Astra Rocket

Last updated

Rocket 3
Astra Rocket 3.0 first mission 10.jpg
Rocket 3.0 being prepared to launch.
Function Orbital launch vehicle
ManufacturerAstra
Country of originUnited States
Cost per launchUS$2.5 million [1] [2]
Size
Height11.6 m (38 ft)
Capacity
Payload to SSO
Altitude500 km (310 mi)
Mass20–50 kg (44–110 lb) [3]
Associated rockets
Comparable
Launch history
StatusRetired
Launch sites PSCA, CCSFS SLC-46
Total launches9 (+1 rocket destroyed before launch)
Success(es)2
Failure(s)7 (+1 rocket destroyed before launch)
First stage
Powered by5 Delphin
Maximum thrustc. 32,500 lbf (145 kN) [4]
PropellantKerosene/LOX
Second stage
Engines1 Aether
Thrust740 lbf (3,300 N) vacuum [4]
PropellantKerosene/LOX
[ edit on Wikidata]

Rocket 1, Rocket 2, and Rocket 3 were a series of small-lift space launch vehicles designed, manufactured, and operated by American company Astra (formerly Ventions). The rockets were designed to be manufactured at minimal cost, employing very simple materials and techniques. They were also designed to be launched by a very small team, and be transported from the factory to the launch pad in standard shipping containers. Rocket 1 was test vehicle made up of a booster equipped with five Delphin electric-pump-fed rocket engines, and a mass simulator meant to occupy the place of a second stage. Rocket 2 was a prototype similar to Rocket 1. Rocket 3 was a launch vehicle which added a pressure-fed second stage to the Delphin-powered booster. Its definitive variant, Rocket 3.3, featured a lengthened booster, and delivered satellites to orbit.

Contents

The Rocket series was designed as a simple, low-cost space launch vehicle. No engine on the rocket made use of turbomachinery and the rocket's construction was of welded sheet aluminium as opposed to lightweight machined panels. It was also physically small, with the longest variant, Rocket 3.3, 11.6 m (38 ft) in height.

Astra's Rocket series was developed with experience gained from the company's work on the SALVO air-launched launch vehicle, for which the Delphin rocket engine was designed. Its career was marked by several series of failures; of 10 launch campaigns, only 2 missions were successfully completed. After the failure of Rocket 3.3 LV0010, production and operation of the launcher was cancelled in favour of a new rocket, Rocket 4.

History

Ventions, the predecessor to Astra, had developed an air-launched orbital launch system for the SALVO program. Development of an electric-pump-fed rocket engine, later known as Delphin, took place as part of SALVO. [5]

In 2016, Ventions was re-incorporated as Astra, under the ownership of Chris Kemp. The reorganized company proceeded to begin the development of a new carrier rocket, designed to be as simple and as inexpensive as possible. The rocket was to be both very small and constructed of basic materials, in order to facilitate a goal of launching on a daily basis. Additionally, it was to be transported in standard shipping containers and have a highly automated launch system that required as few personnel as possible. To accelerate the development of this new launch system, Astra made use of designs and hardware from the SALVO rocket. [6]

In 2017, Astra, under the name Ventions, received funding from NASA to develop the launch system. [7]

In August 2022, citing the poor reliability of Rocket 3, Astra announced that it was ending operations of the vehicle and transitioning into development of Rocket 4, an all-new design. [8] [9]

Variants

Rocket 1

Rocket 1 was a single test vehicle designed between October 2016, when Astra was formed, and March 2018 when the first launch window opened. This vehicle utilized five first stage "Delphin" engines. While second stage engine "Aether" was still being developed, an upper stage (second stage) mass simulator was used in its place. A number of unsuccessful launch attempts were made between March 2018 and July 2018, with launch ultimately taking place in July. [6]

Rocket 2

This launch had no customer and acted as a suborbital test flight using a mass simulator for the second stage, as the Aether second stage engine was still in development. There was no payload on board. The mission planned to fly on an azimuth of 195° from the spaceport, but the license did not disclose the planned altitude or downrange distance for the mission. [6]

Rocket 3

Rocket 3 was a 11.6 m (38 ft) launch vehicle that had a payload capacity of 25 kg (55 lb) to a 500 km (310 mi) Sun-synchronous orbit. The rocket consisted of two stages. The first stage had five electric-pump-fed "Delphin" engines with 6,500 lbf (29,000 N) of thrust each. The second stage had one pressure-fed "Aether" engine with 740 lbf (3,300 N) (vacuum) of thrust.[ citation needed ]

The first Rocket 3, "1 of 3" or "Rocket 3.0", completed a static fire test at Castle Airport, California. It was planned to launch from Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSCA) with attempted launches in late February and early March 2020, with the last launch attempt on 2 March 2020, as part of the DARPA Launch Challenge. Three CubeSats for the U.S. Department of Defense and the University of South Florida, along with a space-based beacon designed to aid in space traffic management, were slated to ride into orbit on "1 of 3". On 2 March 2020, DARPA and Astra officials said the Prometheus CubeSat, the University of South Florida's two Articulated Reconnaissance and Communications Expedition (ARCE) nanosatellites, and the space-based radio beacon payload were to be removed from the rocket after the end of the Launch Challenge. Astra had failed to launch within the DARPA Launch Challenge's launch window; launch preparations continued regardless for the test flight.[ citation needed ]

Rocket 3.3

On 20 November 2021, Astra's Rocket 3.3 vehicle (serial number LV0007) successfully reached orbit after launching from Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSCA) carrying the demonstration payload STP-27AD2 (COSPAR 2021-108A, SATCAT 49494) for the United States Space Force.[ citation needed ]

On 15 March 2022, Astra Rocket 3.3 vehicle (serial number LV0009) successfully reached orbit with the Astra-1 mission.[ citation needed ]

Launch history

0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
  •   Failure
  •   Loss before launch
  •   Partial Failure
  •   Success
  •   Planned
FlightDate / time (UTC)RocketLaunch sitePayloadPayload massOrbitCustomerOutcome [Note 1]
120 July 2018 [10] Rocket 1 PSCA, Pad 2 [11] Mass SimulatorUn­knownSuborbitalTest FlightFailure (Astra declared success) [12]
P120 mission for a commercial customer. [13] The FAA reported an unknown mishap occurred during the launch; [10] Astra later noted the launch was successful. [12]
229 November 2018 [14] Rocket 2 PSCA, Pad 2 [15] Mass SimulatorUn­knownSuborbitalTest FlightFailure (Astra declared success) [12]
Launch for a commercial customer. [16] Flight ended earlier than planned, likely due to engine failure. [14] [12] Rather than including an active second stage, this launch carried an "upper stage mass simulator". [14]
N/A23 March 2020Rocket 3.0 PSCA, Pad 3B [17] N/AN/A LEO DARPA Launch Challenge Precluded
"1 of 3". Initially intended to be part of the DARPA Launch Challenge, but failed to launch within the challenge's launch window due to an issue with a sensor for the guidance, navigation, and control systems. [18] [19] The rocket was reused for the next launch without DARPA involvement, but on 23 March 2020, the rocket exploded during testing, with no personnel injuries. [20]
312 September 2020
03:19 [21] 		Rocket 3.1 PSCA, Pad 3BNone [22] N/A LEO NoneFailure
Formerly "2 of 3". Second attempt to launch a Rocket 3 for the first time. Initially intended to be the second of two launches for the DARPA Launch Challenge. [23] 30 seconds after lift off engines were shut down by the range safety officer. [21]
415 December 2020
20:55 [24] 		Rocket 3.2 [23] PSCA, Pad 3BNone [25] N/A LEO NoneFailure [26]
Formerly "3 of 3". First Astra rocket to pass the Kármán Line and reach its target orbital altitude of 390 kilometers. Narrowly failed to reach stable orbit due to issues with the upper stage propellant mixture ratio, [27] [28] but exceeded the company's expectations with an otherwise-successful climb into near-orbital space from Kodiak Island, Alaska. [29]
528 August 2021
22:35 [30] 		Rocket 3.3 / LV0006 [31] [32] PSCA, Pad 3B STP-27AD1 LEO U.S. Space Force Failure
First commercial Rocket 3 launch, and first of two demonstration launches for the U.S. Space Force. [33] An engine failure shortly after liftoff caused the rocket to drift sideways off the launch pad before ascending vertically. At approximately T+02:28, range safety ordered engine shutdown, terminating the flight. [34] [35] A fueling system propellant leak was determined to be the root cause of the problem. [36]
620 November 2021
06:16 [37] 		LV0007 [38] PSCA, Pad 3B STP-27AD2 LEO U.S. Space Force Success
Second demonstration launch for the U.S. Space Force. This was Astra's first undisputed success. [33]
710 February 2022
20:00 [39] 		LV0008 CC, SLC-46 BAMA-1, INCA, QubeSat, R5-S1 LEO NASA Failure
NASA Venture Class Launch Services 2 (VCLS 2) Mission One, officially known as VCLS Demo-2A. [40] The ELaNa 41 mission, consisting of four CubeSats, was launched on this flight. [41] [42] An issue occurred after stage separation during flight which prevented delivery of the payloads into orbit. [43] The failure was later found to have been caused by a wiring error in the separation mechanism and a software flaw in the thrust vector system. [44]
815 March 2022
16:22 [45] 		LV0009 PSCA, Pad 3BS4 Crossover (EyeStar-S4), OreSat0, 16 × SpaceBEE, [46] 4 × SpaceBEE NZ [47] SSO NearSpace Launch, Portland State University Success
Astra-1 rideshare mission for Spaceflight, Inc.; all payloads deployed successfully. [45] S4 Crossover, carrying EyeStar-S4, remained attached to the second stage as intended. [48] [49]
912 June 2022
17:43 [50] 		LV0010 CC, SLC-46 TROPICS × 219 kg (42 lb) [51] LEO NASA Failure
First of three planned launches for the TROPICS constellation. [52] Both satellites were lost as the rocket failed to reach orbit. The constellation was intended to consist of six satellites in total. [53] The remaining satellites were launched by Rocket Lab's Electron in May 2023.

Launch failures

Of nine launches of Astra rockets, seven were failures, with an additional rocket destroyed during preparations for launch.

Rocket 1

At approximately 22:00 UTC on 20 July 2018, Rocket 1 left the Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSCA) Launch Pad 2 for the company's first sub-orbital launch attempt. After approximately 27 seconds of propelled flight, the rocket began to fall, exploding after hitting the launch pad. As the launch took place in heavy fog and was furthermore kept secret, little was known about the launch failure. Confirmation of the failure took place a day later when the Federal Aviation Administration stated that a mishap had occurred. [6]

Rocket 2

Rocket 2 was launched 30 November 2018 at 03:00 UTC from Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska, Launch Pad 2, the same used for Rocket 1. After approximately 30 seconds of powered flight, the Delphin engines began to fail, causing the rocket to fall and crash into the ground. The maximum altitude attained by Rocket 2 was stated to be about 100 m (330 ft) greater than that for Rocket 1. [6]

Rocket 3.0 destruction before launch

On 23 March 2020, Rocket 3.0 was destroyed in an explosion during testing in preparation for launch. Partway through the series of tests, the supply of helium gas, used to prime parts of the rocket, was depleted. To complete a first stage test, it was decided to transfer surplus helium from the second stage into the booster. However, the helium had been cooled by the adjacent cryogenic liquid oxygen. A plastic valve used to control the flow of helium thereafter became stuck open due to the cold temperatures encountered, allowing unrestricted flow of helium into the booster. The resulting gas buildup caused a tank to rupture, causing the rocket to explode on the pad, destroying itself and the launch infrastructure. [6]

Rocket 3.1 guidance failure

On 14 September 2021, Rocket 3.1 was launched from the PSCA. After ascending for some 15 seconds, the rocket began to exhibit roll oscillation, which caused it to deviate from its intended trajectory. The rocket's flight was therefore terminated about 30 seconds after liftoff, destroying the vehicle. [6] [23]

Rocket 3.2 failure to reach orbit

On 15 December 2020 at roughly 20:55 UTC, Astra launched its third Rocket 3 vehicle, called Rocket 3.2. The rocket successfully passed the Kármán Line and reached its target orbital altitude of 390 kilometers, a first for Astra. However, due to issues with the upper stage's fuel mixture, the rocket failed to achieve orbit. The company declared the flight a success, arguing that their objective for the test flight was to achieve a successful cut-off of the first stage's main engine, which was achieved. [6] [27] [28]

Rocket 3.3 LV0006 engine failure

On 28 August 2021 at 22:35 UTC, Astra launched its fourth Rocket 3 vehicle, Rocket 3.3 (serial number LV0006). The flight carried an instrumentation payload for the United States Space Force under the Space Test Program, and a separation of payload from the launch vehicle was not planned. Shortly after liftoff, a single engine failure caused the vehicle to begin drifting horizontally for several tens of meters off the launch pad before beginning to ascend vertically. [36] The rocket then exceeded its allowable trajectory, and was destroyed about 2 minutes and 28 seconds after launch. The rocket reached a peak altitude of 50 km (31 mi) before crashing into the ocean downrange of the launch site. Astra determined a small propellant leakage from the launcher fueling system caused an explosion that disabled one of the five engines. [54] [35]

Rocket 3.3 LV0008 fairing deploy failure

On 10 February 2022, Rocket 3.3 LV0008 successfully launched. However, the payload fairing failed to separate and ignition of the second-stage occurred with the fairing still attached. The second stage punched through the fairing and spun out of control. Shortly after this anomaly the flight was terminated and the payload lost. The post-launch investigation later found that the failure was caused by an error in the wiring diagram which prevented the fairings from separating completely before second stage ignition, coupled with a software problem that resulted in the upper stage engine being unable to use its thrust vector system to correct the tumbling after stage ignition. [55] [44]

Rocket 3.3 LV0010 (TROPICS) fuel mixture failure

On 12 June 2022, Astra Rocket 3.3 vehicle (serial number LV0010) failed to reach orbit after unusually high fuel consumption was observed. The rocket's payload, two TROPICS satellites for NASA's TROPICS weather research (rainfall and hurricanes) constellation, was destroyed. A post-mission failure analysis determined that the high rate of fuel consumption was ultimately caused by fuel boiling within the regenerative cooling channels of the Aether engine. This effect, previously unobserved, was attributed to the warmer weather at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station heating the fuel more before it was loaded onto the vehicle compared to the weather encountered at Astra's Alaska launch site. This was the final flight of Rocket 3. [56]

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References

  1. ↑ Sheetz, Michael (16 June 2020). "Rocket startup Astra trying for an orbital launch again in July, renewing fundraising efforts". CNBC. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  2. ↑ Heater, Brian. "Rocket startup Astra emerges from stealth, aims to launch for as little as $1M per flight". TechCrunch. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  3. ↑ "NASA LSP Fact Sheet for Venture Class" (PDF). May 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Astra Media Kit LV0006" (PDF). 28 August 2021.
  5. ↑ Foust, Jeff (2 June 2014). "DARPA Developing Operational Pathfinder for ALASA Air Launch System". SpaceNews. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Vance, Ashlee (2023). When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach. Ecco. pp. 204–320. ISBN   9780062998873.
  7. ↑ Northon, Karen (22 February 2017). "NASA Establishes New Public-Private Partnerships". NASA. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  8. ↑ Foust, Jeff (5 August 2022). "Astra cancels Rocket 3 to focus on larger vehicle". SpaceNews. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  9. ↑ "Astra announces second quarter 2022 financial results". Astra (Press release). 4 August 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  10. 1 2 Foust, Jeff (27 July 2018). "Alaska launch shrouded in secrecy". SpaceNews. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  11. ↑ "Commercial Space Transportation License No LLS 18-112". FAA. Retrieved 3 April 2018.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Astra scrubs DARPA launch challenge attempt". NASASpaceFlight.com. 2 March 2020. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  13. ↑ Alaska Aerospace. "PSCA Mission History".
  14. 1 2 3 Foust, Jeff (6 December 2018). "Astra Space suborbital launch fails". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  15. ↑ "Commercial Space Transportation License; License Number LLS 18-144". FAA. Retrieved 17 October 2018.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  16. ↑ Alaska Aerospace. "2018 AAC Annual Report" . Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  17. ↑ Twitter-News Archived 1 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine from Todd Master, 1 März 2020
  18. ↑ Clark, Stephen (21 March 2020). "Astra readies for possible launch attempt next week". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  19. ↑ Foust, Jeff (2 March 2020). "DARPA Launch Challenge ends without winner". SpaceNews. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  20. ↑ Sheetz, Michael (5 April 2020). "Rocket startup Astra trims staff to survive pandemic until next year". CNBC. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  21. 1 2 Clark, Stephen (14 September 2020). "Software fix could position Astra for another launch attempt by end of year". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 15 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  22. ↑ Clark, Stephen (1 August 2020). "Astra readies small satellite launcher for test flight from Alaska". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  23. 1 2 3 Sheetz, Michael (16 June 2020). "Rocket startup Astra trying for an orbital launch again in July 2020, renewing fundraising efforts". CNBC. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  24. ↑ Lapidus, Sarah. "Astra to try again today after weather delayed rocket launch attempt". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  25. ↑ "Rocket 3.2 Ready To Launch!". astra.com. 11 December 2020. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  26. ↑ Berger, Eric. "Just finished a call with @Astra. Rocket was 0.5 m/s (1.6 ft/s) short of orbit. With a better fuel mixture in the upper stage it would have orbited. Apogee of 390 km (240 mi). Rocket 3.3 will carry a payload, and there will be no hardware or software changes". twitter.com. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  27. 1 2 Sheetz, Michael (15 December 2020). "Rocket startup Astra reaches space for the first time with second launch attempt from Alaska". CNBC. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  28. 1 2 Etherington, Darrell (15 December 2020). "Launch startup Astra's rocket reaches space". TechCrunch. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  29. ↑ Clark, Stephen (16 December 2020). "Astra's smallsat launcher reaches space on second test flight". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  30. ↑ "Astra Announces Multi-Launch Contract And First Launch With Department Of Defense". Astra. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  31. ↑ Foust, Jeff (1 March 2021). "Astra's 100-year plan: Q&A with CEO Chris Kemp". SpaceNews. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  32. ↑ "On The Ground: Launch Vehicle 0006 Static Test". Astra. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  33. 1 2 Foust, Jeff (5 August 2021). "Astra to make next orbital launch attempt in late August for the Space Force". SpaceNews. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  34. ↑ Astra [@Astra] (28 August 2021). "We suffered technical difficulties, but achieved 2.5 minutes of flight data. Every launch, whether successful or not, is an opportunity for us to learn. Our team will study the data and use this information to iterate on our next launch" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  35. 1 2 @jeff_foust (29 August 2021). "Just got off a brief call with Astra. One of the five first stage engines failed less than one second into flight. Range triggered the engine shutdown at T+2.5 minutes because the launch vehicle was outside its normal flight trajectory" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  36. 1 2 Berger, Eric (12 October 2021). "Astra explains previous failure, sets October date for next launch attempt". Ars Technica. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  37. ↑ Burghardt, Thomas (20 November 2021). "Astra successfully makes orbit on fourth attempt". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  38. ↑ Foust, Jeff (13 August 2021). "Astra to fly upgraded rocket on next launch". SpaceNews. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  39. ↑ Beil, Adrian (10 February 2022). "Astra suffers failure on ELaNa 41 mission". NASASpaceFlight . Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  40. ↑ Higginbotham, Scott (9 August 2021). "CubeSat Launch Initiative – Upcoming Flights" (PDF). NASA. p. 3. Retrieved 22 September 2021.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  41. ↑ "Upcoming ELaNa CubeSat Launches". NASA. 16 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  42. ↑ Foust, Jeff (12 December 2020). "Three companies win NASA small launch contracts". SpaceNews. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  43. ↑ Mike Wall (10 February 2022). "Astra rocket suffers catastrophic failure in 1st Florida launch, 4 satellites lost". Space.com. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  44. 1 2 "Astra blames launch failure on wiring error and software flaw". SpaceNews. 8 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  45. 1 2 Davenport, Justin (14 March 2022). "Astra successfully returns to flight with mission for Spaceflight Inc". NASASpaceFlight . Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  46. ↑ "Swarm launched satellites on Astra mission". 22 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  47. ↑ McDowell, Jonathan [@planet4589] (11 April 2022). "It's now clear that the Astra LV0009 mission launched 20 SpaceBEEs, namely SpaceBEE 112 to 127 and New Zealand flagged SpaceBEE NZ-11 to NZ-14. All but two are now ID'd by 18SPCS; no IDs yet for the SpaceBEEs launched on Transporter-4" (Tweet). Retrieved 29 April 2022– via Twitter.
  48. ↑ "S4 CROSSOVER Technical Description". NearSpace Launch, Inc. FCC. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  49. ↑ "NearSpace Launch Joins Astra's Upcoming EyeStar-S4 Mission". SatNews. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  50. ↑ Foust, Jeff (12 June 2022). "Astra launch of NASA TROPICS cubesats fails". SpaceNews . Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  51. ↑ "Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) Mission Launch Services". sam.gov. Retrieved 9 June 2021.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  52. ↑ Potter, Sean (26 February 2021). "NASA Awards Launch Service Contract for TROPICS Mission". NASA. Retrieved 27 February 2021.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  53. ↑ "NASA Maintains Contractual Relationship with Astra, Presses Forward with TROPICS Mission". NASA . 28 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  54. ↑ "Astra Rocket's Test Launch for Space Force Fails to Reach Orbit". Bloomberg.com. 29 August 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  55. ↑ "Post-Launch Investigation: What We Found And Next Steps | Astra". astra.com. 6 March 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  56. ↑ Aubert, Zac (1 March 2023). "Astra Concludes Tropics-1 Launch Failure Investigation - TLP News". The Launch Pad. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  1. ↑ For consistency, the outcome of the flight is measured by whether the rocket achieves a stable orbit. The company may have particular objectives for test flights that are more or less strenuous than reaching orbit.
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