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Astra may make 2nd orbital launch attempt this year after test flight failure - Space.com
Sep 12, 2020 1 min, 13 secs

After a failed launch debut, the space startup Astra may be able to attempt its second orbital test shot before 2020 ends.

Preliminary data analyses suggest that the problem arose in Rocket 3.1's guidance system, which "appeared to introduce some slight roll oscillations into the flight," Astra co-founder and chief technology officer Adam London told reporters during a teleconference on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 12).

The fireball, though dramatic, was not dangerous, said Astra co-founder and CEO Chris Kemp, stressing that Rocket 3.1's flight-termination system did its job as expected.

"We can actually just cause the rocket to safely land within a safety area by commanding the engines to stop," Kemp said.

It appears that the guidance glitch was caused by a software issue, London and Kemp said.

"We could've learned things that could've set us back six months or a year," Kemp said.

Rocket 3.1's performance Friday night was encouraging, keeping the company on track to achieve that goal, Kemp said. .

That market is currently dominated by Rocket Lab, which gives smallsats dedicated rides to orbit (as Astra plans to do), and SpaceX, which carries bantam spacecraft as "rideshares" on missions that loft big primary payloads.

The entire Rocket 3.1 launch system, for example, was deployed by just six people in less than a week ahead of Friday night's test flight, Astra representatives said.

"There just aren't enough launches going to enough destinations on the schedules that are demanded by this new generation of small-satellite payloads," Kemp said.

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