Due to technical problems, the American Rocket 3.3 ultralight rocket was unable to launch two Tropics meteorological satellites into orbit. The state of emergency was reported by the carrier developer Astra Space.
“We had a regular flight of the first stage. But the second stage turned off ahead of time. We were unable to deliver a payload into orbit, ”the message says.
Launch vehicle Rocket 3.3 launched into orbit with two American meteorological satellites Tropics. It was launched from the 46th launch complex of the Space Center. Kennedy (Cape Canaveral, Florida). The launch took place today at 13:43 US East Coast time (20:43 Moscow time).
It was supposed to launch a pair of small NASA satellites into low Earth orbit. They are designed to study the development of tropical cyclones.
Startup Astra Space made its first successful launch in November 2021. Prior to this – since 2018 – the American company has not carried out a single completely successful launch.