by Update for 13:31 ET: Astra is now aiming for a 1:43 pm EDT (1743 GMT) launch for two hurricane student cube sets of NASA’s TROPICS mission.
Astra aims to achieve its second success with satellite distribution in a row today.
The California-based startup is aiming for the launch of two tiny little ones on Sunday (June 12) cube set for NASA’s Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission.
Astra and NASA will try to lift themselves during a two-hour window that opens at. 12.00 EDT (1600 GMT). The launch will take place from kl Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and involves Astra’s 43 feet tall (13 meters) launch vehicle 0010 (LV0010). You can watch it live here on Space.com, courtesy of Astra, or directly via the company and the livestream partner, NASASpaceflight.com.
Video: Watch Astras Rocket 3.2 launch on its first successful flight
The two-stage LV0010 appears to be ready for use; the rocket completed a static fire test – a routine preflight check in which the engines of a launch vehicle are fired while the vehicle remains grounded – earlier this week, This was announced by Astra via Twitter (opens in new tab).
LV0010’s flight will arrive approximately three months after Astra’s first full mission success ever. March 15, LV0009 distributed a variety of customer payloads into their designated orbit shortly after taking off from the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Kodiak Island in Alaska.
Successful static fire for @NASA TROPICS-1! #AdAstra pic.twitter.com/Ibm2GvW2GyJune 6, 2022
Astra had reached orbit beforebut it was on a test flight that had no operational satellites.
The upcoming launch will be the first of three TROPICS flights for Astra this year, if all goes according to plan. Each of these missions will have two TROPICS cube sets, which will study the formation and evolution of hurricanes in detail.
The TROPICS network will allow scientists to monitor the evolution of tropical cyclones almost every hour – far more often than is possible with weather satellites in operation now, NASA officials have said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated twice on Saturday, June 11th to include the launch date announced by Astra and to add a link to the Astra / NASASpaceflight.com livestream.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out there (opens in new tab)“(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the pursuit of alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).
