Astra manufactured and operated its Rocket family of launch vehicles for both commercial and military customers for launching satellites into orbit.
Astra's first two rockets, Rocket 1 and Rocket 2, were suborbital test vehicles without payloads. Although their only launches were reported to be failures, [1] [2] Astra reported they were successful. Astra reached space (Karman line) for the first time on their second Rocket 3 launch (third if one counts in a previous rocket destroyed by fire on the launch pad), but the upper stage did not enter into orbit due to a wrong fuel and oxidizer mixture ratio. The company concluded that this met their goal for the mission and on their next flight they would fly a commercial payload. [3] Astra's next flight on 28 August 2021 with their fourth Rocket 3 vehicle, Rocket 3.3 (LV0006) carrying a payload for the United States Space Force, failed to reach space after one of the engines failed 1 second after liftoff, but it did reach an altitude of 31 miles (50 kilometers).
On 20 November 2021 at 06:16:00, Astra Space launched its first successful mission to orbit. Rocket 3.3 (LV0007), carrying a demonstration payload from the US Department of Defense was launched from PSCA. [4]
As of June 2022, there have been two successful launches (both orbital) out of a total of nine attempts (of which two were suborbital). In addition, a launch vehicle was destroyed during a pre-launch countdown dress rehearsal on 23 March 2020.
On 4 August 2022 during a quarterly briefing, Astra announced that after a string of failures leading to payload loss, Rocket 3.3 will be retired, and it will be replaced by the future Rocket 4.0 Launch Vehicle. [5]
Future rocket variants currently in development include Rocket 4.0 (an upgraded version of Rocket 3) and Rocket 5.0 (a suborbital point-to-point delivery variant of Rocket 3.0). [6] [7]
Flight | Date / time (UTC) | Rocket | Launch site | Payload | Payload mass | Orbit | Customer | Outcome [Note 1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 20 July 2018 [1] | Rocket 1 | PSCA, Pad 2 [8] | Mass Simulator | Unknown | Suborbital | Test Flight | Failure (Astra declared success) [9] |
P120 mission for a commercial customer. [10] The FAA reported an unknown mishap occurred during the launch; [1] Astra later noted the launch was successful. [9] | ||||||||
2 | 29 November 2018 [2] | Rocket 2 | PSCA, Pad 2 [11] | Mass Simulator | Unknown | Suborbital | Test Flight | Failure (Astra declared success) [9] |
Launch for a commercial customer. [12] Flight ended earlier than planned, likely due to engine failure. [2] [9] Rather than including an active second stage, this launch carried an "upper stage mass simulator". [2] | ||||||||
N/A | 23 March 2020 | Rocket 3.0 | PSCA, Pad 3B [13] | N/A | N/A | LEO | DARPA Launch Challenge | Precluded |
"1 of 3". Initially intended to be part of the DARPA Launch Challenge, but failed to launch within the challenge's launch window due to an issue with a sensor for the guidance, navigation, and control systems. [14] [15] The rocket was reused for the next launch without DARPA involvement, but on 23 March 2020, a fire occurred on the launch pad prior to launch, destroying the rocket. [16] | ||||||||
3 | 12 September 2020 03:19 [17] | Rocket 3.1 | PSCA, Pad 3B | None [18] | N/A | LEO | None | Failure |
Formerly "2 of 3". Second attempt to launch a Rocket 3 for the first time. Initially intended to be the second of two launches for the DARPA Launch Challenge. [19] 30 seconds after lift off engines were shut down by the range safety officer. [17] | ||||||||
4 | 15 December 2020 20:55 [20] | Rocket 3.2 [19] | PSCA, Pad 3B | None [21] | N/A | LEO | None | Failure [22] |
Formerly "3 of 3". First Astra rocket to pass the Kármán Line and reach its target orbital altitude of 390 kilometers. Narrowly failed to reach stable orbit due to issues with the upper stage propellant mixture ratio, [23] [24] but exceeded the company's expectations with an otherwise-successful climb into near-orbital space from Kodiak Island, Alaska. [25] | ||||||||
5 | 28 August 2021 22:35 [26] | Rocket 3.0 / LV0006 [27] [28] | PSCA, Pad 3B | STP-27AD1 | LEO | U.S. Space Force | Failure | |
First commercial Rocket 3 launch, and first of two demonstration launches for the U.S. Space Force. [29] An engine failure shortly after liftoff caused the rocket to drift sideways off the launch pad before ascending vertically. At approximately T+02:28, range safety ordered engine shutdown, terminating the flight. [30] [31] A fueling system propellant leak was determined to be the root cause of the problem. [32] | ||||||||
6 | 20 November 2021 06:16 [33] | LV0007 [34] | PSCA, Pad 3B | STP-27AD2 | LEO | U.S. Space Force | Success | |
Second demonstration launch for the U.S. Space Force. This was Astra's first undisputed success. [29] | ||||||||
7 | 10 February 2022 20:00 [35] | LV0008 | CC, SLC-46 | BAMA-1, INCA, QubeSat, R5-S1 | LEO | NASA | Failure | |
NASA Venture Class Launch Services 2 (VCLS 2) Mission One, officially known as VCLS Demo-2A. [36] The ELaNa 41 mission, consisting of four CubeSats, was launched on this flight. [37] [38] An issue occurred after stage separation during flight which prevented delivery of the payloads into orbit. [39] The failure was later found to have been caused by a wiring error in the separation mechanism and a software flaw in the thrust vector system. [40] | ||||||||
8 | 15 March 2022 16:22 [41] | LV0009 | PSCA, Pad 3B | S4 Crossover (EyeStar-S4), OreSat0, 16 × SpaceBEE, [42] 4 × SpaceBEE NZ [43] | SSO | NearSpace Launch, Portland State University | Success | |
Astra-1 rideshare mission for Spaceflight, Inc.; all payloads deployed successfully. [41] S4 Crossover, carrying EyeStar-S4, remained attached to the second stage as intended. [44] [45] | ||||||||
9 | 12 June 2022 17:43 [46] | LV0010 | CC, SLC-46 | TROPICS × 2 | 19 kg (42 lb) [47] | LEO | NASA | Failure |
First of three planned launches for the TROPICS constellation. [48] Both satellites were lost as the rocket failed to reach orbit. The constellation was intended to consist of six satellites in total. [49] The remaining satellites were launched by Rocket Lab's Electron in May 2023. | ||||||||
NET 2024 [49] | TBA | LEO | NASA | Planned | ||||
Contract with NASA to launch scientific payloads on Rocket 4.0, replacing the previous launch services contract for the TROPICS constellation. | ||||||||
NET 2024 [5] [50] | Lemur-2 × ? | LEO | Spire Global | Planned | ||||
Contract with Spire Global for an unknown number of launches and satellites. | ||||||||
NET 2024 [5] [51] | Flock-4 × ? | LEO | Planet Labs | Planned | ||||
Multi-launch contract with Planet Labs. | ||||||||
NET 2024 [5] [51] | Flock-4 × ? | LEO | Planet Labs | Planned | ||||
Multi-launch contract with Planet Labs. | ||||||||
2024–2025 [5] [52] | TBA | TBA | LEO | Spaceflight Industries | Planned | |||
Multi-launch contract with Spaceflight Inc. | ||||||||
April 2025 [53] | TBA | STP-S29B | LEO | U.S. Space Force | Scheduled | |||
Category 2 Mission Assurance launch for the U.S. Space Force. |
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Rocket 1, Rocket 2, and Rocket 3 were a series of small-lift space launch vehicles designed, manufactured, and operated by American company Astra. The rockets were designed to be manufactured at minimal cost, employing very simple materials and techniques. They were also designed to be launched by a very small team, and be transported from the factory to the launch pad in standard shipping containers. Rocket 1 was test vehicle made up of a booster equipped with five Delphin electric-pump-fed rocket engines, and a mass simulator meant to occupy the place of a second stage. Rocket 2 was a prototype similar to Rocket 1. Rocket 3 was a launch vehicle which added a pressure-fed second stage to the Delphin-powered booster. Its definitive variant, Rocket 3.3, featured a lengthened booster, and delivered satellites to orbit.