NASA described the CubeSats TROPICS as a constellation of six “shoe-sized” satellites that “will study the formation and development of tropical cyclones, making observations more often than possible with current meteorological satellites “.
Two small NASA satellites that were destined to study the development of hurricanes did not go into orbit on Sunday when their Astra rocket went off before reaching the required altitude, the US space agency said. .
“After a nominal flight of the first stage, the upper stage of the rocket closed soon and could not deliver the TROPICS CubeSats into orbit,” NASA’s launch services program said on Twitter.
In a pre-launch post, NASA described the CubeSats TROPICS as a constellation of six “shoe-sized” satellites that will “study the formation and development of tropical cyclones.” , making observations more frequently than is possible with the current weather “. satellites “.
Astra received a $ 7.95 million contract from NASA in February 2021 for three launches, each with a pair of TROPICS devices on board.
Hoping to become a key player in the small satellite launch market, Astra promises more frequent launches with more flexibility than companies using larger rockets, such as SpaceX and Arianespace.
But the launch has faced recurring problems with its two-stage rocket that has not reached orbit.
In February, during another NASA CubeSat mission, the second stage of Astra did not reach orbit due to a problem that released the shells that cover the satellites during launch.
“We regret not being able to deliver the first two TROPICS satellites,” Astra CEO Chris Kemp said in a tweet on Sunday.
“Nothing is more important to our team than the trust of our customers and the successful delivery of the remaining TROPICS satellites.”
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© 2022 AFP
Citation: NASA loses two hurricane tracking satellites at launch (2022, June 13) recovered on June 13, 2022
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