Washington-Astra's third attempt to enter orbit failed on August 28, when its rocket 3.3 rocket was unable to leave the launch pad due to the engine shutdown and ultimately failed to fly. The small launch vehicle designated by Astra as LV0006 activated its five first-stage engines at about 6:35 pm. East of the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Kodiak Island, Alaska. Various issues, including the extra time set for charging the thrusters and updating the software, delayed the launch from the 4pm window. East. The rocket did not immediately rise vertically, but tilted and moved sideways, almost hovering above the ground. The lateral movement took nearly 20 seconds to stop, at which time the rocket began to rise. The rocket continued to climb until about two and a half minutes after liftoff, the first phase of combustion was nearing the end. The in-vehicle video on the transmission network broadcast showed that the engine was turned off, the vehicle was rolling, and a "done" call was heard in the transmission audio. About 90 minutes after the failure, Astra's co-founder and CEO Chris Camp said in a phone call to the media that one of the five first-level engines happened less than a second after takeoff. Fault. "We are still investigating why this happened," he said. "The guidance system was able to maintain control, and the rocket began to fly horizontally for a few seconds, until we burned enough propellant to start resuming lift-off." He said that because the aircraft deviated from its authorized path, after two and a half minutes of flight, the range issued a command to stop engine thrust. The vehicle flew at a maximum altitude of about 50 kilometers and then crashed into the sea from Kodiak Island without causing damage or injury to the public. \u201cWe have collected a lot of data from the flight, we have a launch vehicle 7 in the production phase, and we can integrate everything we have learned before sending it to Kodiak and launching it again,\u201d he said. The launch attempt of the previous day was terminated immediately after the engine started. Astra later said that the engine thrust did not increase as quickly as expected. "At the moment we have no reason to believe that these are related," Kemp said. The launch video showed that the rocket appeared to be in contact with the launch pad, when it tilted and moved sideways. "We are still studying the data and looking for fingerprints," he said, but hinted that this contact will happen after the engine is turned off. "We are very impressed with the guidance system," he added. "Since our engines were shut down very early in flight, the fact that the rocket can maintain control and continue to fly and resume its trajectory is spectacular." This launch was Astra's third attempt to get into orbit in less than a year, but all failed. In September 2020, the rocket 3.1 failed to launch because its guidance system caused the aircraft to deviate from the planned trajectory, causing the engine to shut down shortly after takeoff. In December 2020, the second launch of its 3.2 rocket almost went into orbit, but the upper stage engine died prematurely when the fuel ran out. Despite the second failure, Astra announced that it had demonstrated its "orbital launch capability" because with the help of the Earth's rotation, this launch could have been successfully launched from a low-tilt location, such as Cañaveral. Horn. Astra has made several improvements to this, the first Rocket 3.3 vehicle, including an extended propellant tank. "Any change in a complex system like Rockets always involves risks," Kemp said in the Aug. 12 earnings call. "We appreciate this, but we also believe that maximizing learning requires us to make progress and take appropriate technical risks." According to the contract announced on August 5, this launch is the first of two launches by the US Space Force. This mission, designated as STP27AD1 by the space force, only carries a test payload to measure the rocket's launch environment, and will remain connected to the upper level even if the rocket enters orbit.
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