Astra Space

Flyaway

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Astra first launch news.

Fresh out of stealth mode, Astra gearing up for orbital launch from Alaska
https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/02/...ra-gearing-up-for-orbital-launch-from-alaska/

Some time in the next few days, a California-based company that has quietly toiled to develop a new light-class satellite launcher since 2016 will attempt to send three CubeSats into orbit from Kodiak Island, Alaska, on the first of two missions scheduled before the end of March to win up to $12 million in prize money from the U.S. military.
 
40 sec after Lift-off the 5 engines on first stage shut down
In news was something about deviation from flight path
 
You're thinking an abort sequence might have accidentally partially triggered or some such?
 
I know Space X had a lot of issues at first but you have got to think questions will be asked about this company.
 
You're thinking an abort sequence might have accidentally partially triggered or some such?

The Astra blog linked from the Space.com story you posted seems pretty clear. They got some unexpected oscillation, leading to the vehicle flying off planned trajectory, which triggered the flight safety system (engine shutdown). That's the system working as intended, not an accidental activation.
 
I have to admit, that power slide during liftoff looked rad as hell, and shows the design is actually pretty capable. Not many rockets would have survived losing 1/5th of their power, with the accompanying asymmetric thrust, right at liftoff.
 
"Space may be hard, but like this rocket, we are not giving up."

It's the Lil Brudder of spaceflight.

lil_b.png
 
Astra ELaNa 41 Mission ended in failure
the Payload faring din't not separate from first stage, but only open and stay in position.
the second stage blasted it way true the faring and got destabilised
last video footage show that second stage is pitching...
 

I wonder how the payload fairing managed to get stuck on the rocket they are supposed to separate without trouble. Let’s hope that the next rocket is more successful

It's all spelled out in the article.

"The separation mechanisms (our fairing has five of these) were fired in an incorrect order, which resulted in off-nominal movement of the fairing that caused an electrical disconnection," Griggs wrote. "Due to the disconnection, the last separation mechanism never received its command to open, which prevented the fairing from separating completely before upper-stage ignition."

The firing order was wrong because an engineering diagram had been drawn incorrectly, Griggs added.
 

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