NASA Loses Two Weather Satellites Thanks to Astra’s Failed Launch

Astra's NASA mission has suffered a huge failure.

The aerospace company's recent launch vehicle, the Astra Launch Vehicle 0010 (LV 0010), suffered failure after lifting off from NASA's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, losing two NASA weather satellites in the process, per Space.com.

The satellites were supposed to help NASA track down hurricanes from space.

Astra Launch Vehicle 0010 Launch Failure Details

Astra's LV 0010 suffered a second-stage failure following its lift-off from NASA's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1:43 PM Eastern Daylight Time on June 12, per Space.com's article.

The failure was the result of its second stage engine shutting down prematurely, causing the launch vehicle to not reach the Earth's orbit, according to Astra's Amanda Durk Frye, who is the senior manager for the first stage and engine production.

The failure also led to the loss of two NASA weather satellites called TROPICS -CubeSats that were supposed to help NASA track and know more about developing tropical storms, per The Verge and Reuters' reports.

NASA has yet to disclose its decision to continue launching its remaining TROPICS satellites with Astra, or if those that were lost in Astra's failure will be replaced.

The space agency has planned three TROPICS missions using Astra's rockets in 2022, with each of the rockets carrying two NASA CubeSats, totaling six satellites.

The June 12 launch failure marks Astra's second launch failure in 2022 through the use of its Rocket 3.3, an expendable two-stage launch vehicle capable of lifting 330 lbs. of satellites to low-Earth orbit. It also marks the aerospace company's seventh launch since its first in August, per CNBC.

The aerospace company's first successful launch was in November 2021, with its second being in March 2022.

The Verge reported that Astra's other launches were affected by problems with its guidance system or engine failure, with its first launch becoming a failure due to one of the engines of its rocket shutting down, per a separate CNBC article.

NASA's TROPICS Satellites - What Are They?

NASA's TROPICS satellites were designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory to help NASA keep track of developing tropical storms and measure their moisture and precipitation.

These satellites are about the size of a loaf of bread, and if the six satellites were successfully embedded into Earth's orbit, they would complete NASA's hurricane-watching constellation.

Scott Braun, a research meteorologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in a statement before Astra's launch vehicle launched that TROPICS will give experts "very frequent views" of tropical cyclones and provide insight into their formation, intensification, and interactions with their environment.

The satellites will also provde important data for storm monitoring and forecasting.

NASA hopes that it could monitor hurricanes and tropical storms every hour by using three pairs of TROPICS satellites in different orbits.

Astra's missions deal with NASA cost the company $7.95 million.