Astra’s failed launch resulted in the loss of two NASA weather satellites - The Verge

Astra failed to deliver two of NASA’s weather-tracking satellites into space after its rocket’s upper stage engine shut down early after launch. The two satellites were lost as a result.

A rocket belonging to the up-and-coming Astra space company failed to deliver two of NASA’s weather-tracking satellites to space after its second stage engine shut down prematurely. Both satellites were lost as a result of the failure.

Astra’s Launch Vehicle 0010 (LV0010) successfully took off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 1:43PM ET, but suffered an upper stage failure about 10 minutes into its flight. The launch was part of NASA’s mission to send six TROPICS satellites into space — these small, foot-long CubeSats are supposed to help NASA keep better track of developing tropical storms. CubeSats are low-cost satellites frequently built by researchers at colleges and universities.

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.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/12/23165065/astra-failed-launch-resulted-loss-nasa-weather-satellites-cubesats-tropics

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