13:31 update ET: Astra is now aiming to launch at 13:43 EDT (1743 GMT) for two cubes studying hurricanes from NASA’s TROPICS mission.
Astra is aiming for its second consecutive success in deploying satellites today.
The California-based startup is set for Sunday (June 12th) to launch two small cubesats for NASA’s time-permitted observations of the structure of precipitation and storm intensity with the Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission.
Astra and NASA will try to take off during a two-hour window that opens at 12:00 EDT (1600 GMT). The launch will consist of Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and includes a 43-foot (13-meter) Astra 0010 launch vehicle (LV0010). You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of Astra, or directly through the company and its live partner, NASASpaceflight.com.
Video: Watch as Astra’s Rocket 3.2 launches on its first successful flight
Astra’s 0010 launch vehicle carrying two NASA TROPICS hurricane satellites is at its site at Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida after being detained at T-31 seconds on June 12, 2022 (Image credit: NASASpaceflight)
The two-stage LV0010 seems ready to go; the rocket passed a static fire test – a routine pre-flight check in which the launcher’s engines are started while the vehicle remains anchored to the ground – earlier this week, Astra announced via Twitter (opens in a new section).
The flight of the LV0010 will come about three months after the first full mission of Astra. On March 15 LV0009 introduced various consumer payloads in their orbit shortly after taking off from the Pacific Spaceport complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska.
Successful static fire for @NASA TROPICS-1! #AdAstra pic.twitter.com/Ibm2GvW2Gy June 6, 2022
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Astra has reached orbit beforebut this was on a test flight that did not carry any working satellites.
The upcoming launch will be the first of TROPICS ‘three Astra flights this year, if all goes according to plan. Each of these missions will raise two TROPICS cubes, which will study the formation and evolution of hurricanes in great detail.
The TROPICS network will allow researchers to monitor the development of tropical cyclones almost every hour – much more often than is possible with current weather satellites, NASA officials said.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated twice on Saturday, June 11 to include the launch time announced by Astra and to add a link to the live stream on Astra / NASASpaceflight.com.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out there (opens in a new section) “(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), a book on the search for extraterrestrial life. Follow it on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in a new section). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a new section) or incl Facebook (opens in a new section).
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