Astra lifted off once again from Florida’s Space Coast, this time carrying NASA’s TROPICS-1 mission. However, it failed to make orbit after the second stage shut down early. This is the second failed mission Astra has launched for NASA and makes a total of five failed flights overall.
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Astra is set to launch their Rocket 3.3 LV0009 to space on March 15, 2022, at 12:22 p.m. EDT (9:22 a.m. PDT) from Pad LP-3B at the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak, Alaska. This mission is carrying satellites from a variety of companies.
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Launching NASA’s ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) 41 mission, Astra is attempting its first-ever east coast launch. Astra successfully reached orbit last year after three failed attempts from the Pacific Spaceport Complex, Alaska. This mission is the first time Astra will deploy satellites – four in total from various universities and NASA centers.
Launch Date: Thursday, February 10, 3:00 p.m. EST
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Saturday Astra attempted their 5th test flight of one of their smallsat launchers from Kodiak Island, Alaska. While Astra’s Rocket 3.3 did not make it to space this time, it did give watchers a show when it slightly recovered after an engine failure.
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Astra plans to launch their first commercial mission on top of their Rocket 3 vehicle. While the rocket has yet to reach orbit, the issue that caused the shortcoming was very minor and Astra is confident it will make it to orbit this time on this 4th launch. The payload on this mission will be the first of 2 demonstration missions for the US Space Force named STP-27AD1. This mission will be the companies first launch of the year.
Date: Friday, August 28th at 6:35 p.m. EDT
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