posted 08-29-2021 09:40 AM
Notice at the 1:33:42 mark, at liftoff of LV006, the rocket rises vertically a bit and then actually slides sideways about a hundred meters away from the pad before heading skyward. Never seen anything quite like it.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47500 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 08-29-2021 09:56 AM
As noted in Astra's post-flight release:
One of the five main engines shut down less than one second after liftoff, causing the vehicle to slowly lift off the pad before resuming its trajectory.
It was posited by someone on Twitter that with the loss of the engine, the rocket didn't have enough thrust to lift its own weight and so didn't start climbing until more fuel was depleted. If so, the flight software did an impressive job keeping the rocket (mostly) vertical and hovering for those few seconds.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47500 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 08-29-2021 11:15 AM
Scott Manley video
Astra is a rocket builder that is aiming to handle the smallest payloads with their tiny launch vehicle which weighs less than 10 tons. Over the last few years they've got progressively closer to demonstrating an orbital launch capability. They'd been very secretive up to this point and this was the first live stream of one of their launches.
However things didn't go according to plan and the rocket took a bizarre trajectory off the launch pad, slipping sideways before starting to rise, ultimately reaching almost 50 kilometers before falling back into the Pacific ocean.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47500 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 11-20-2021 10:15 AM
Astra Space's Rocket 3.3 successfully reached orbit on a Nov. 20 launch, the fourth orbital launch attempt by the small launch vehicle startup, reports SpaceNews.
The Rocket 3.3 vehicle, with the serial number LV0007, lifted off at 1:16 a.m. Eastern from Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska on Kodiak Island. Astra scrubbed a launch attempt the previous day after more than two hours of delays.
SkyMan1958 Member
Posts: 1132 From: CA. Registered: Jan 2011
posted 11-22-2021 11:02 AM
Congratulations to Astra!!!
SkyMan1958 Member
Posts: 1132 From: CA. Registered: Jan 2011
posted 12-06-2021 12:41 PM
Given Astra's theoretical launch cadence in the future, does anyone know if, at least in the future, they are planning to de-orbit their second stage after they have placed the payload in orbit?
Needless to say, if they don't, that could lead to a significant increase in orbital junk.
posted 08-29-2021 09:30 AM
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