Astra Successfully Launches First Satellites on their first Mission for Spaceflight

LV0009 Ready for Launch | Credit: Brady Kenningston/Astra

On Tuesday, March 15 at 12:22pm EDT (16:22 UTC), Astra launched their first mission for Spaceflight, Inc, designated Astra-1, atop the Rocket 3.3 LV0007 rocket from LP-1B at the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska. The launch window opened at 12:22pm ET (18:22 UTC), on March 16 but the countdown was holded due to weather and then scrubbed. Prior to this, Astra only reached orbit once, in November 2021, but the payload was a test payload for the US Space Force which was not intended to separate. In January 2022, Astra attempted to launch NASA's ELaNa 41 mission, but the second stage had an issue and the payload fairing failed to separate. Astra has resolved this issue. The Spaceflight Astra-1 mission has three payloads: S4 CROSSOVER (a prototype payload host platform that will not separate), OreSat0 (the first satellite built by the state of Oregon), and an unknown payload. This will be the 2nd time Astra has reached orbit and the first time Astra successfully launches a satellite. This was the 6th Rocket 3 launch and the 27th orbital launch attempt of 2022.