Astra Test Payload

Launch data:

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• Astra Rocket-3 Test Payload are vehicle evaluation payloads for the maiden flights of the Astra Rocket-3 rocket.
  The flights carried no real payload, only the instrumented upper stage was to be put into orbit.
• The Astra Rocket-3.0 mission was destroyed on 23 March 2020 during a launch pad accident.
  The Astra Rocket-3.1 mission was lost in the actual first orbital attempt on 12 September 2020.

Mission details:

• Launch startup company Astra made their first orbital attempt on Sep 12, 2020 from Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska on Kodiak Island. Target orbit was 340 x 340 km x 86.3 deg. Payload was test instrumentation only. During first stage flight, guidance oscillations caused the rocket to go off course, and the engines were commanded to shut down. The rocket tumbled back to Earth and exploded on impact with the ground.