On February 15 at 16:22 UTC, a Rocket 3.3 rocket was launched from the Pacific Spaceport site on Kodiak Island (Alaska). Carrier number LV0009 sent a payload for three clients into solar-synchronous orbit: NearSpace Launch equipment inseparably attached to the second stage, Portland Aerospace Cubs, and some cargo in favor of an unknown customer.
The launch was organized through Spaceflight and became the first under a contract with Astra. The terms of the agreement are not disclosed, but it is known that Spaceflight will be able to use Astra launch services until 2025.
Astra Space CEO Chris Kemp said that the next three launches the company will make from Cape Canaveral: the rocket will launch into orbit Kubsat as part of the NASA TROPICS mission. Satellites will collect data on the nature of tropical storms.
The startup Astra, after 6 years of training and a series of failures, successfully brought its first commercial cargo to an altitude of 525 km for the first time. The launch was generally successful, but there were some problems – the control center at the time of the calculation did not receive data on the separation of the payload from the carrier, but after some time the satellites contacted and confirmed that they are on target orbit. The uniqueness of the Astra – in cheap disposable rockets, the cost of bringing 150 kg to an altitude of 500 km is only $ 2.5 million in the space industry it is very cheap. In fact, Astra’s competitor, Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, outputs a payload of about 6.6 million.
