A rocket from the promising space company Astra was unable to deliver two of NASA’s weather tracking satellites into space after its second-stage engine shut down prematurely. Both satellites were lost as a result of the crash.
Astra’s 0010 (LV0010) launch vehicle successfully took off from the Cape Canaveral Florida space force station at 1:43 p.m. ET, but suffered a top-stage crash about 10 minutes after flight. The launch was part of NASA’s mission to send six TROPIC satellites into space: these small, one-foot-long CubeSats are supposed to help NASA better monitor the development of tropical storms. . CubeSats are low-cost satellites that are usually built by college and university researchers.
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
“The top stage closed soon and we did not deliver the payloads into orbit,” Astra said in a statement on Twitter. “We have shared our grief with @NASA and the payload team.” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s science division, acknowledged the unsuccessful launch in a Twitter thread, but was optimistic, noting that it still “offered a great opportunity for new launch capabilities and science.”
It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. NASA did not immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.
Astra first partnered with NASA in February to bring a set of CubeSats into space, marking its first launch from Cape Canaveral. However, the Astra lost its payload after the rocket appeared to be out of control after launch.
So far, Astra has only had two successful orbital launches out of a total of seven attempts: the company first launched into orbit last November and successfully deployed a customer’s satellites into orbit in March. . A number of issues have affected Astra’s other releases, ranging from problems with its steering system to engine failures.