Footage obtained by TechCrunch shows the tragic outcome that Astra's 3.0 rocket experienced during pre-launch testing in March 2020.
At the time, the explosion at the Pacific Spaceport facility in Alaska was only reported as an “anomaly.” This is an industry term for almost any problem that deviates from the expected outcome.
“We can confirm that there was an anomaly on the launch pad,” Alaska Aerospace CEO Mark Lester told local reporters at the time. “We are running an emergency checklist. We ask that everyone stay away from the area so our crews can deal with the situation.”
Meanwhile, Astra CEO Chris Kemp told TechCrunch at the time that the rocket “tested successfully at Kodiak in preparation for this week's launch, but an anomaly occurred.” . He added that the company's hardware was “the only one affected.” He told another publication that the company would not attempt a launch after that week and would “wait until the coronavirus situation improves before trying again,” when in fact there were no more rockets to launch.
The video clip shows the micro launcher bursting into flames. It is clear that this vehicle did not survive. This was to be Astra's third orbital launch attempt.
At the time, Astra took these failures in stride. When the company came out of stealth earlier that year, it expected some failure and built on the belief that it could build rockets in such large quantities and at such low prices. 100% reliability was not possible. Final goal. Kemp summed it up in a May 2022 interview. “The expectation that a lot of people have is that every launch has to be perfect,” he said. “I think what Astra really has to do is do so many launches that no one thinks about it.”
Astra reached orbit for the first time in November 2021 and for the second time in March 2022.
Astra has been one of the biggest success stories for space industry investors, going public in July 2021 at a valuation of $2.1 billion after raising nearly $500 million for its ultra-low-cost launch program. But those plans didn't materialize, and after months of burning through cash, Astra's board decided to cancel the take-private deal from Kemp and chief technology officer Adam London for 1 share. It was accepted quietly at a stock price of just $0.50 per share. The deal is expected to close this quarter, at which point Astra will cease trading on Nasdaq.
Astra did not respond to a request for comment on the 2020 launch failure.