Update at 13:31 ET: Astra is now aiming for a launch at 13:43 EDT (1743 GMT) for two cubes of hurricane study cubes from NASA’s TROPICS mission.
Astra aims to achieve its second consecutive satellite deployment success today.
The California-based startup aims to launch two small ones on Sunday (June 12) cubesats for time-resolved observations of the precipitation structure and the intensity of NASA’s storm with a Smallsat Constellation mission (TROPICS).
Astra and NASA will attempt takeoff during a two-hour window that opens at 12:00 EDT (1600 GMT). The launch will be made from Cap Cañaveral space force station in Florida and involved the 43-foot-tall (13-meter) Astra 0010 (LV0010) launch vehicle. You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of Astra, or directly through the company and its live partner, NASASpaceflight.com.
Video: Watch the launch of Astra’s 3.2 rocket on its first successful flight
Astra’s 0010 launch vehicle carrying two NASA TROPICS hurricane observation satellites is on its platform at the Cape Canaveral space force station in Florida after a T-hold. 31 seconds on June 12, 2022. (Image credit: NASASpaceflight)
The two-stage LV0010 seems to be ready to go; the rocket passed a static fire test, a routine pre-flight check in which a launcher’s engines start while the vehicle remains anchored to the ground earlier this week. Astra has announced via Twitter (opens in a new tab).
The flight of the LV0010 will arrive about three months after the success of Astra’s first full mission. March 15, LV0009 deployed a variety of customer payloads in its designated orbit shortly after takeoff from the Pacific Space Port Complex on Kodiak Island in Alaska.
Successful static fire for @NASA TROPICS-1! #AdAstra pic.twitter.com/Ibm2GvW2Gy6 June 2022
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Astra it had reached orbit beforebut it was on a test flight that it carried no operational satellite.
The next launch will be the first of three TROPICS flights for Astra this year, if all goes according to plan. Each of these missions will carry two TROPICS cubes, which will study the formation and evolution of hurricanes in great detail.
The TROPICS network will allow researchers to monitor the development of tropical cyclones almost every hour, much more frequently than is possible with meteorological satellites currently in operation, NASA officials have said.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated twice on Saturday, June 11th to include the launch time announced by Astra and to add a link to Astra / NASASpaceflight.com live streaming.
Mike Wall is the author of “Over there (opens in new tab) “(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in a new tab). follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a new tab) or activated Facebook (opens in a new tab).