Despite 2 failed launches, NASA intends to stick with using Astra Space

Astra Space has gone 0-for-2 in its attempts for success from the Space Coast, with the latest supposed to be the first of three launches this summer for NASA to put several hurricane-tracking satellites into orbit.

The failure on Sunday saw Astra’s Rocket 3.3 lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in what seemed to be a good launch only the be thwarted by its second stage failing to put its payload of two satellites into the desired orbit, resulting in their destruction falling back to Earth.

NASA officials, though, say that all is not lost for the overall TROPICS project, which stands for Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats.

“TROPICS is part of (NASA’s) Venture program for lower-cost, higher risk missions: payloads that tolerate relatively high risk and serve as an ideal platform for innovation. For TROPICS: four out of six small satellites are needed for the mission to work,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate.

So while the first two satellites were destroyed, Astra Space officials said they are hopeful they will figure out the problem and be able to fulfill the rest of their $7.8 million contract, launching the final four satellites.

“The next two launches need to work,” said Astra cofounder and CEO Christ Kemp. “Our team understands what is at stake.”

To date, the Alameda, California-based company has only achieved successful orbital flights twice, both from an Alaska spaceport. The last time it tried to fly from Florida, also as part of a NASA mission, the company’s rocket saw a second-stage failure as well, resulting in the destruction of the four small satellites it was flying for three universities as well as the Johnson Space Center.

The company’s post-launch investigation, though, identified two issues that it was able to remedy and then successfully carry out in a March flight from Alaska, although that was for private customers. Its only other successful flight came last November, a demonstration flight for the U.S. Space Force.

The TROPICS failure was the 10th ever rocket launched for the company founded in 2016. The company’s publicly traded stock (NASDAQ: ASTR), which was close to $20 a share in February 2021, has been sliding ever since, dropping to its lowest value ever, hitting $1.42 in early trading Monday before rebounding slightly. It closed at $1.54, down nearly 24% for the day.

Both the February failure and this past weekend’s were under NASA contracts designed to help new rocket companies. Other commercial companies that have been awarded contracts to fly NASA hardware on what it labels as high-risk missions include Virgin Orbit, Rocket Lab, Relativity Space and Firefly.

Not all have had their first launches yet, but both Virgin Orbit and Rocket Lab saw at least one early mission deployment failure, but none with such high-profile loss of payloads. Even SpaceX, which has not had a mission failure since 2016, was unsuccessful in its first three rocket attempts, which nearly ended Elon Musk’s rocket venture.

The Orlando Sentinel reached out to NASA to see what the cost was for the lost satellites on both the February and TROPICS missions, and if the taxpayers and other customers would get compensation for the launch failures. NASA did not provide answers to those questions.

Instead, Zurbuchen reiterated that a part of such missions is to give new rocket companies a financial reason to do business.

“Even though we are disappointed right now, we know: There is value in taking risks in our overall NASA Science portfolio because innovation is required for us to lead,” he said.

“I am confident that in the future we will succeed in using this valuable launch capability to explore the unknown and give others the same opportunity to inspire the world through discovery,” he added.

On Twitter, Kemp stated his company’s commitment to push forward.

“This mission means a lot to our team. We are focusing our team’s energy on deeply understanding the root cause, correcting it, and completing the TROPICS mission,” he said.

Zurbuchen replied with an encouraging comment: “We are eager to complete the TROPICS mission as well. Good luck!”