NASA Astra rocket suffers failure, loses two hurricane monitoring satellites
After blasting off from a pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1:43 p.m. EDT (11:13 p.m. IST) on Sunday, the Astra rocket, known as Launch Vehicle 0010 (LV0010), suffered a second-stage failure.
FollowTwo small NASA satellites intended to investigate storm formation were unable to enter orbit Sunday after their Astra rocket failed to reach the required height, according to the US space agency.
After blasting off from a pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1:43 p.m. EDT (11:13 p.m. IST) on Sunday, the Astra rocket, known as Launch Vehicle 0010 (LV0010), suffered a second-stage failure.
"After a routine first stage flight, the rocket's upper stage shut down early and failed to deliver the TROPICS CubeSats to orbit," NASA's Launch Services Program tweeted.
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NASA described the Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) CubeSats as a constellation of six 'shoe-box sized' satellites that will "study the formation and development of tropical cyclones, making observations more frequently than what is possible with current weather satellites" in a post on its website before the launch.
NASA awarded Astra a $7.95 million contract in February 2021 for three launches, each carrying a pair of TROPICS devices. Astra hopes to become a prominent participant in the market for small satellite launches, promising more frequent launches with greater flexibility than firms that use larger rockets, such as SpaceX and Arianespace.
However, the firm has had repeated problems with its characteristic two-stage rocket not reaching space. Astra's second stage failed to reach orbit in February during another NASA CubeSat mission owing to a problem releasing the shells that cover the satellites during launch.
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"We regret not being able to deliver the first two TROPICS satellites," Astra CEO Chris Kemp said in a tweet on Sunday. He further said, "There is nothing more essential to our team than our clients' trust and the successful delivery of the remaining TROPICS satellites."
