A rocket from space startup Astra failed to launch two of NASA’s weather satellites into space after the second stage’s engine shut down prematurely. Both satellites were lost due to the outage.
The Astra launch vehicle 0010 (LV0010) successfully lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1:43 p.m. ET, but suffered an upper stage failure about 10 minutes into the flight. The launch was part of NASA’s mission to send six TROPICS satellites into space These small satellites, about 12 inches (30 cm) long, should help NASA better track the evolution of tropical storms. CubeSats are inexpensive satellites often made by researchers at colleges and universities.
We had a nominal flight for the first leg. The top stage closed early and we have not put any payloads into orbit. Share our regrets with him Embed Tweet And the payload team. More information will be provided after we complete a full review of the data.
– Astra (@Astra) June 12, 2022
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“The upper stage closed early and we have not put any payloads into orbit,” Astra said. Statement on Twitter† “We have shared our regrets with NASA and the payload team.” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate director of NASA’s science division, acknowledged the launch failure on Twitter-threadbut remained optimistic, noting that it still “presents a great opportunity for new science and launch opportunities.”
It is unclear whether NASA plans to launch the remaining TROPICS satellites with Astra or when they will be replaced. NASA did not immediately respond commonComment request.
Astra first partnered with NASA in February to launch a series of CubeSats into space, marking its first launch from Cape Canaveral. but, Astra lost charge after rocket spiraled out of control after launch.
To date, the Astra has had only two successful orbital launches out of a total of seven attempts – the The company reached orbit for the first time last November And the Customer’s satellites successfully launched into orbit in March† A host of issues impacted other Astra launches, starting with: Problems with the steering system to me Engine failure.
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