Astra aims to mark its second consecutive success in satellite development today. The California-based startup aims to release two tiny ones on Sunday (June 12th) cubic for the NASA mission by temporarily resolving the structure of rainfall and thunderstorm intensity with a Small Ray Constellation (TROPICS). Astra and NASA will attempt to disembark during a two-hour window that opens at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT). The launch will be performed by Cape Canaveral space station in Florida and involve the 43-foot (13-meter) Astra 0010 (LV0010) launch vehicle. You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of Astra or directly through the company and his live streaming partner, NASASpaceflight.com. Video: Watch the launch of Astra’s Rocket 3.2 on its 1st successful flight
The Astra’s Launch Vehicle 0010 carrying two NASA TROPICS hurricane tracking satellites stands on its cushion at the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida after waiting for the T-31 seconds on June 12, 2022. (Image credit: NASASpaceflight) The two-stage LV0010 seems to be ready. The rocket underwent a static fire test — a routine pre-flight test in which a launcher engines are launched while the vehicle remains anchored to the ground — earlier this week, Astra announced via Twitter (opens in a new tab). The LV0010 will take off about three months after the first complete success of the Astra mission. March 15, LV0009 has developed a variety of customer payloads on their set orbit shortly after taking off from the Pacific Space Port Group on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Successful static fire for @NASA TROPICS-1! #AdAstra pic.twitter.com/Ibm2GvW2Gy, June 6, 2022 See more Astra had reached orbit beforebut was on a test flight that did not carry operational satellites. The upcoming launch will be the first of three TROPICS flights for the Astra this year, if all goes according to plan. Each of these missions will create two TROPICS cubes, which will study the formation and evolution of hurricanes in great detail. The TROPICS network will allow researchers to track the development of tropical cyclones almost every hour – far more often than is currently possible with current weather satellites, NASA officials said. Editor’s note: This story was updated twice on Saturday, June 11, to include the start time announced by Astra and to add a link to the Astra / NASASpaceflight.com live stream. Mike Wall is the author of “Out there (opens in a new tab) “(Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for extraterrestrial life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in a new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or enabled Facebook (opens in a new tab).
