Astra Rocket Fails To Launch, NASA Loses Two Weather Satellites

Astra rocket, failed to launch. (photo: doc. NASA)

JAKARTA - A rocket belonging to a rising space company, Astra, failed to send two NASA weather tracking satellites into space. This failure occurred after the second stage engine died prematurely. Unfortunately, the two weather satellites were lost due to the failure.

Launch Vehicle Astra 0010 (LV0010) actually successfully lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 1:43 p.m. ET. However, the rocket suffered an upper-stage failure about 10 minutes after its flight.

The launch is part of NASA's mission to send six TROPICS satellites into space, one of which is tiny one-foot-long CubeSats that are expected to help NASA better track tropical storm development. CubeSats are inexpensive satellites that are often made by researchers at colleges and universities.

"Stage up closed early and we are not sending payloads into orbit," Astra said in a statement on Twitter.

"We have shared our regrets with @NASA and the payload team." Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's science division, was quoted as saying by The Verge.

He acknowledged the failed launch in a thread on Twitter, but remained optimistic, noting that the failure still "offers great opportunities for new science and launch capabilities."

We had a nominal first stage flight. The upper stage shut down early and we did not deliver the payloads to orbit. We have shared our regrets with @NASA and the payload team. More information will be provided after we complete a full data review.

— Astra (@Astra) June 12, 2022

It's not clear if or when NASA plans to relaunch the remaining TROPICS satellites with Astra, or if the two missing ones will be replaced. NASA did not immediately respond to The Verge's request for comment.

How much loss caused by this failure has also not been explained by each party. Neither Astra nor NASA.

Astra first partnered with NASA in February to take a set of CubeSats into space. It marked its first launch at Cape Canaveral. However, the Astra lost payload after the rocket appeared to spiral out of control after launch.

So far, Astra has only had two successful orbit launches out of their total of seven attempts. The company's rocket reached orbit for the first time in November 2021 and successfully deployed a subscriber satellite into orbit in March.

Various issues have affected other Astra launches, ranging from problems with its guidance system to engine failure. This failure further adds to the length of their reputation in the satellite launch business.