SPACE LAUNCH REPORT Astra Rocket Launch Vehicle Flight History by Variant/Year (2018-Present) by Ed Kyle, Last Update 12/31/2023 L(F) = Number of Launches(Number of Failures) Rocket Rocket Rocket Grand 1 2 3 Total Year L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) ------------------------------------------------------------------ 2010 - - - - - 2011 - - - - - 2012 - - - - - 2013 - - - - - 2014 - - - - - 2015 - - - - - 2016 - - - - - 2017 - - - - - 2018 1(1)* 1(1)* - - 2(2)* 2019 - - - - - 2020 - - 2(2)+ - 2(2)+ 2021 - - 2(1) - 2(1) 2022 - - 3(2) - 3(2) 2023 - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------ Rocket Rocket Rocket Grand 1 2 3 Total L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Suborb 1(1) 1(1) - - 2(2)* Orbit - - 7(5)+ - 7(5)+ Total 1(1) 1(1) 7(5)+ - 9(7)*+ ------------------------------------------------------------------ Footnotes: * Failed suborbital tests by Rocket 1.0 and Rocket 2.0 in 2018. + Does not include Rocket 3.0 destruction on ground during prelaunch activities. Astra Rocket Variants ================================================================== Name Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Rocket 1 Rocket 2 Rocket 3 5xDelphin 1x?? ================================================================== Stage Data ================================================================= Stg Name Loaded Empty Thrust ISP ISP Burn Dia Len Mass Mass sec sec time tonnes tonnes tonnes SL Vac sec m m ------------------------------------------------------------------ Rocket 3 S1 14.275 1.32 ~9.0 Rocket 3 S2 ~2.6 ================================================================= Comprehensive Launch List Date Vehicle ID Payload Mass Site Result ------------------------------------------------------------------- 07/21/18 Rocket 1 1.0 Test KD 2 [FSO] 11/29/20 Rocket 2 2.0 Test KD 2 [FSO] 03/23/20 Rocket 3 3.0 Prelaunch Test KD 3B [PAD] 09/12/20 Rocket 3.1 3.1 Test Flight KD 3B [FTO] 12/15/20 Rocket 3.2 3.2 Test Flight KD 3B [FTO] 08/28/21 Rocket 3.3 0006 Orbital Test KD 3B [FTO] 11/20/21 Rocket 3.3 0007 STP-S27AD2 KD 3B LEO 02/10/22 Rocket 3.3 0008 ELaNa 41 CC 46 [FTO] 03/15/22 Rocket 3.3 0009 3xCubesats ~0.01 KD 3B LEO 06/12/22 Rocket 3.3 0010 Tropics 1 0.016 CC 46 [FTO] ----------------------------------------------------------------- [1.0] Suborbital attempt with only one stage reportedly failed about 60 seconds after liftoff. [2.0] Suborbital attempt with only one stage failed shortly after liftoff. [3.0] After earlier, March 2020 attempts to fly Rocket 3.0 for the Darpa Challenge failed to produce a launch after multiple countdowns, a final, March 23 attempt ended with a prelaunch failure that destroyed the rocket and started a fire at the launch site. [3.1] First orbital launch failed about 20 seconds into flight due to oscillations introduced by the guidance system. [3.2] Fell short of planned 380 km x 98.1 deg orbit. Stg 2 burned out 12-15 sec early due improper propellant mixture ratio. Fuel depletion cutoff. [0006] One first stage engine shut down at liftoff. Possible launcher hang-up. Vehicle flew for 2.5 minutes until flight terminated by commanded MECO. [0007] First Astra orbital success. Carried non-separable STP-S27AD2 payload to 438 x 507 km x 86 deg orbit after an 8.5 minute direct ascent. [0008] First Cape Canaveral Astra launch. PLF failed to separate. Stg 2 started and entered spin after impacting PLF. FTO. [0009] To 525 km x 97.5 deg orbit. [0010] Second stage cut off about 1 minute early. Two Tropics-1 Cubesats. Planned 600 km x 30 deg orbit. FTO. ------------------------------------------------------------------- FTO = Failed to Orbit FSO = Failed Suborbital KD = Kodiak, Alaska ------------------------------------------------------------------ Astra Rocket by Ed Kyle Astra, a stealthy new-space startup company co-founded by Adam London and Chris Kemp during October 2016, began development of its small orbital launch vehicle during 2017. The two-stage LOX/kerosene fueled vehicle is named "Rocket" and is identified here as "Astra Rocket". It went through a series of design iterations, beginning with Rocket 1.0, which was tested at the former Alameda Naval Air Station in California beginning in 2017, and proceeding to Rocket 3.0, intended to make the first orbital attempts during 2020 as part of DARPA's Launch Challenge. Technical details of the engines and of the rocket itself are closely held. Five Delphin rocket engines that use battery powered turbopumps power the Astra Rocket 3.0 first stage. The second stage uses a single Aether rocket engine. Astra Rocket stands 11.6 meters tall and is 1.32 meters diameter. It uses a "fully containerized launch system" to provide rapid launch response in sparse settings. It also uses an "ultra-low-cost" metal structure. It is designed to place at least 100 kg into a presumably near-polar low Earth orbit. Astra performed two suborbital test launches during 2018 from Kodiak, Alaska, using only live first stages. The first, an Astra Rocket 1.0 flown from Launch Pad 2 on July 21, 2018, reportedly failed about 60 seconds after liftoff. The second, an Astra Rocket 2.0, failed shortly after its November 29, 2018 attempt from the same pad. Based on lessons learned from these tests, the company developed Astra Rocket 3.0 during 2019. It appears to use a common bulkhead between its first stage propellant tanks, unlike the earlier iterations. Astra Rocket 3 1of3Astra Rocket DARPA Launch Challenge Campaign Rocket 3.0, 1-of-3, March 2020 Astra attempted to complete the DARPA Launch Challenge during late-February and early-March, 2020 at Kodiak. The company's first Rocket 3.0, named "one of three", was delivered to the launch site in a container and set up for launch at Launch Pad 3B. A propellant loading exercise was accomplished, but bad weather scrubbed the first two possible launch attempts. On March 2, 2020, good weather allowed a final attempt. The countdown proceeded smoothly toward a planned 20:55 UTC launch, after a 10 minute shift to avoid potential collision with the International Space Station. Then, at T-53 seconds, a "GNC Hold" stopped the attempt. The hold was caused by off-nominal sensor data involving the guidance and navigation system. Although the launch team had a three-hour window to work with, the problem proved unsolvable during the alloted time. The scrub meant loss of a potential $2 million DARPA award, but Astra planned to try again in a few weeks time. Astra Rocket 3.1 AstraRocket 3.1 Fails Astra's Rocket 3.1, a small two-stage LOX/Kerosene fueled rocket, failed during its first orbital launch attempt from Alaska's Kodiak Launch Pad 3B on September 12, 2020, after a 03:20 UTC liftoff. The rocket rose for slightly more than 20 seconds before, acccording to Astra, oscillations introduced by the guidance system caused "the vehicle to drift from its planned trajectory, leading to a commanded shutdown of the engines by the flight safety system". Witnesses saw the vehicle tumbling out of the sky to an explosive impact on the ground after its five battery-powered Delphin rocket engines cut off. The company's earlier, March 2020 attempts to fly Rocket 3.0 for the Darpa Challenge failed to produce a launch after multiple countdowns. A final, March 23 attempt ended with a prelaunch failure that destroyed the rocket and started a fire at the launch site. Astra Rocket stands 11.6 meters tall and is 1.32 meters diameter. Its probably weighs 10-11 tonnes at liftoff, rising on 14.275 tonnes of thrust. It uses an "ultra-low-cost" metal structure. Although designed to place at least 100 kg into a presumably near-polar low Earth orbit, Astra 3.1 carried no payload during this initial orbital flight test. Astra performed two suborbital test launches during 2018 from Kodiak, Alaska, using only live first stages. The first, an Astra Rocket 1.0 flown from Launch Pad 2 on July 21, 2018, reportedly failed about 60 seconds after liftoff. The second, an Astra Rocket 2.0, failed shortly after its November 29, 2018 attempt from the same pad. Astra Rocket Success Astra Space's Rocket 3.3 reached orbit for the first time on November 20, 2021. The success came after three previous failed orbital attempts during 2020-21 and the loss of a fourth vehicle in a 2020 prelaunch failure. The small two-stage LOX/Kerosene fueled rocket, identified as LV0007 by the company, lifted off from Alaska's Kodiak Launch Pad 3B at 06:16 UTC. It carried the non-separable US Space Force Space Test Program S27AD2 payload to a 438 x 507 km x 86 deg orbit after an 8.5 minute direct ascent. Five batttery-powered Delphin main engines powered the 52 inch diameter first stage during its 2 minute 50 second burn. They produced a combined 32,500 lbf thrust at liftoff. After the first stage fell away and the fairing separated, the LOX/Kerosene fueled second stage fired its 740 lbf thrust pressure-fed Aether engine for 5 minutes 25 seconds to reach orbit. Rocket 3.3 stood 43 feet tall at liftoff. It is designed to place at least 100 kg into a near-polar low Earth orbit. Astra performed two suborbital test launches during 2018 from Kodiak, Alaska, using only live first stages. The first, an Astra Rocket 1.0 flown from Launch Pad 2 on July 21, 2018, reportedly failed about 60 seconds after liftoff. Astra Rocket Fails Astra Space's Rocket 3.3 failed to reach orbit during its first attempted launch from Cape Canaveral on February 10, 2022. The flight appeared to falter after the end of the first stage burn, at around 90 km altitude, when the payload fairing was supposed to separate to reveal the second stage and its attached payload. Instead, the fairing hung up. A few seconds later the pressure-fed second stage started its 740 lbf thrust Aether engine. It burst through the fairing but immediately entering a spin that rapidly increased. It was the fourth failed orbital flight in five Astra Rocket attempts since 2020, not including the loss of a fifth vehicle in a 2020 prelaunch failure. The 43 foot tall, two-stage LOX/Kerosene fueled rocket, identified as LV0008, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 46 at 20:00 UTC. It carried four CubeSats on the NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellite (ELaNa) 41 mission. LV0008 aimed to reach a 500 km x 41 deg orbit during an 8 min 30 sec direct ascent. Five battery-powered Delphin main engines boosted the 52 inch diameter first stage during its 2 minute 50 second burn. They produced a combined 32,500 lbf thrust at liftoff. The failed fairing separation was attempted five seconds after first stage shutdown. The second stage was supposed to perform a 5 min 25 sec burn. It was the first flight from SLC 46 since a Minotaur 4 launch on August 26, 2017. Astra Rocket Success Astra Space's Rocket 3.3 reached orbit for the second time on March 15, 2022, boosting three Cubesats into sun synchronous orbit from Kodiak, Alaska. The success demonstrated fixes for problems that caused a failed attempt from Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 10, 2022. br> The small two-stage LOX/Kerosene fueled rocket, identified as LV0009, lifted off from Alaska's Kodiak Launch Pad 3B at 16:22 UTC. It carried the non-separable S4 Crossover payload, seperable OreSat 0, and one unidentified satellite. The payloads, which may have totaled 10 kg or so, were aimed toward a 525 km x 97.5 deg orbit after an 8.5 minute direct ascent. Five batttery-powered Delphin main engines powered the 52 inch diameter first stage during its 2 minute 54 second burn. They produced a combined 32,500 lbf thrust at liftoff. After the first stage fell away and the fairing separated, the LOX/Kerosene fueled second stage fired its 740 lbf thrust pressure-fed Aether engine for 5 minutes 29 seconds to reach orbit. Rocket 3.3 stood 43 feet tall at liftoff. It is designed to place at least 100 kg into a near-polar low Earth orbit. Rocket 3.3 now has two successes in four orbital attempts. Previous Rocket 3.1 and 3.2 versions failed during their two combined attempts. Last Rocket 3.3 Fails On June 12, 2022, the fifth Rocket 3.3 failed to place two Tropics 1 Cubesats (16 kg total) into orbit after launch from Cape Canaveral's SLC 46. The second stage cut off about 1 minute early. The plan had been for the stage and payload to reach a 600 km x 30 deg orbit. After the failure, Astra announced that it would shelve Rocket 3.3, leaving several completed vehicles on the ground. The company planned to develop a larger Rocket 4, but development work sputtered as months passed. Astra itself barely survived through the end of 2023, forced to lay off a large part of its staff due dwindling cash reserves. References: Jonathan's Space Report Launch Vehicle Database "http://www.planet4589.org/space/lvdb/index.html" Encylopedia Astronautica "http://www.astronautix.com/" Gunter's Space Page "http://www.skyrocket.de/space"