What Awaits Astra Space After its First Successful Rocket Launch Last March?

In March, Astra Space finally carried out its first successful rocket launch, following a streak of failures. After placing several small satellites into low earth orbit, the company is getting ready for new missions. However, this first success has not yet had any positive effect on the Astra stock value.

Rocket Launch & Payload Details

Astra rocket launch took place on 15th March from Kodiak Island and was the first commercial success for the company. Even though the launch was delayed one day due to bad weather conditions, the attempt finally proved successful for Astra. The first stage separated 35 seconds after liftoff, and the payloads were released 110 seconds after that. Astra received the first communication signal from the deployed satellites in about an hour.

During its first successful rocket launch, Astra carried payloads for three customers. The first one, designed by NearSpace Launch, is still attached to the second stage and is designed to test inter-satellite communications. The second one is a CubeSat (OreSato) designed by the Portland Aerospace Society.

The previous Astra rocket launch attempt was supposed to carry payloads from NASA but the mission failed. Later investigation proved that there was a problem with both the payload waiting and the software. However, Astra team never stopped working and, soon enough, should carry out three more missions carrying NASA CubeSats.

Astra’s Future Potential

Even though it is hard to predict whether Astra’s success will result in the company stock value rising (which remains unchanged as of now), there is hope for the launch operator. Astra has already proven that it can successfully deploy payloads into orbit, but experts agree that it would take a streak of successful missions, rather than one rocket launch before the company reaps the fruits of its hard work.