![]() The two executives confirmed that the next Rocket 3.3, LV0008, was close to launch readiness, though they said more details on flight dates and where it might take off from would be released at some point in the future. ![]() “We’ve never operated in these freezing temperatures before,” Kemp added. Leading up to the launch, the company got a lot of useful data not from flight simulations but from the natural environment: the sub-zero temperatures in Kodiak, Alaska, where Astra has a launch facility, Astra’s chief engineer Benjamin Lyon said Monday. “We did this at record pace because of this iterative approach and I don’t think we would have gotten there on this schedule any other way.” “A lot of these things are very difficult to test unless you’re in flight conditions,” Kemp explained. As a result, the company’s experienced its share of failure - including the most recent flight test of LV0006, during which an engine anomaly caused the rocket to drift sideways before reaching around 50 km. “This is really hard and all it takes is one thing to go wrong,” CEO Chris Kemp told reporters during a press conference Monday.Īstra’s taken an agile and iterative approach to testing, rapidly building out launch rockets (which have a serial number naming convention) and hosting test flights in relatively quick succession. It’s a huge boost for Astra, which now joins a very small club of private companies that have managed to reach orbit. Space Force as part of the department’s Space Test Program. Rocket LV0007 (also called Rocket 3.3) launched from the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak, Alaska, and successfully delivered a payload for the U.S. But now the real work begins, as the company seeks to commence commercial operations and roll out new rocket versions for flight testing next year. ![]() Rocket startup-turned-public company Astra Space is flying high Monday morning, with stock prices increasing as much as 42% since markets opened thanks to the company’s first successful orbital flight late Saturday evening.
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