The first launch of NASA’s TROPICS constellation came to an unscheduled end over the weekend, as the Astra launch vehicle in which it was traveling was unable to deliver the cubes into orbit.
Everything was going very well. The two cubes took off on an Astra Rocket 3 from Space Launch Complex 46 at approximately 13:43 EDT on June 12, 2022.
The initial flight seemed to go well, but things went wrong once the first stage was over. Viewers of the live video stream from the rocket saw what appeared to be the start of a crash before the power was cut off abruptly. California-based rocket manufacturing partner Astra, based in California, confirmed that the upper stage had closed soon, condemning the payload to a meeting with Earth much earlier than expected.
TROPICS (Observations resolved in time of the structure of precipitation and the intensity of the storm with a constellation of small satellites) requires six satellites to do their thing and this was the first of three planned launches . The constellation CubeSats, in three low-Earth orbital planes, is designed to measure the environmental conditions and the inner core of tropical cyclones in unprecedented detail and at a relatively low cost.
While the program under which the launch was acquired is designed to tolerate higher risks in exchange for increased launch opportunities and support for commercial space, an ocean sinking was not part of the plans.
The failure will also add to the problems of Astra, a company with two successful orbital missions in its belt. Its launch in March 2022 went well, but the previous one, in February, failed after a problem with the stage separation mechanism.
Astra remained baffled about the cause of the failure until an investigation was completed.
We had a nominal flight of the first stage. The upper stage closed soon and we did not deliver the payloads into orbit. We shared our grief with @NASA and the payload team. More information will be provided after a complete review of the data is completed.
– Astra (@Astra) June 12, 2022
NASA, however, put a brave face on things. After all, Astra is expected to launch the rest of the constellation TOPICS into its next two vehicles. Once you’ve solved what caused the weekend’s problems, of course.
Although today’s launch with @Astra did not go as planned, the mission provided a great opportunity for new launch capabilities and science.
– Thomas Zurbuchen (@Dr_ThomasZ) June 12, 2022
Astra recovered quickly after the anomaly earlier this year. With the launch contracts in the bag, one can but hope he can do the same again.
The incident, however, is another impetus for the cliché: “Space is difficult.” ®