{"id":22047,"date":"2023-03-03T19:07:13","date_gmt":"2023-03-03T11:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/astra-releases-investigation-report-for-tropics-1-launch-failure\/"},"modified":"2023-03-03T19:07:13","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T11:07:13","slug":"astra-releases-investigation-report-for-tropics-1-launch-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/astra-releases-investigation-report-for-tropics-1-launch-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"Astra releases investigation report for TROPICS-1 launch failure"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\t<\/iframe><\/ins><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

As a quick recap, on June 12, 2022, Astra launched a Rocket 3.3 vehicle with two NASA CubeSates for the TROPICS program. Liftoff went smoothly with the first stage performing as intended; however, about 75% of the way through the second stage burn, the engine shut down prematurely. This was then followed by the loss of the NASA payload and rocket in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

Astra announced a couple of months later that it planned to scrap Rocket 3 for the newer and bigger Rocket 4. Since that rocket is not part of NASA\u2019s Venture Class launch services contract, the agency pulled TROPICS from Astra\u2019s manifest and awarded it to Rocket Lab.<\/p>\n

What went wrong with TROPICS-1?<\/h2>\n

One thing I love about Astra is after a failure the company has always done a great job sharing what it found and learned. This means the report shared yesterday is quite detailed, so here\u2019s a layman\u2019s version of it.<\/p>\n

\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t