Astra Space

[russianhalo117]

He said no launch today, more info later. Din't mention smoke, or anything else, so maybe not a serious issue.

maybe a launch abort.

[russianhalo117]

Gabe Stutman, a local reporter up there just tweeted that the weather is clear, and he'll be tweeting updates.

https://twitter.com/kdmgabe

Official report from social media accounts of Kodiak Daily Mirror including KDM reporter in tweet links above. is confirmation that a Launch Abort occurred followed immediately by a very loud boom with no fire or conflagration of the launcher. no further attempts today. In a minimum 24 hour scrub while data is reviewed and scrub may be lengthened depending upon findings.

[vaporcobra]

He said no launch today, more info later. Din't mention smoke, or anything else, so maybe not a serious issue.

Just worth remembering that Kodiak has not experienced a rocket launch in years, so any subjective fears or concerns from observers should be assumed to be extreme exaggerations of whatever actually happened. Same thing still happens all the time with extremely routine SpaceX testing in McGregor, "loud boom" this "loud boom" that and endless questions of whether it was a failure or RUD. Best to distrust inexperienced observers and not stretch beyond official confirmation in these situations.

[russianhalo117]

He said no launch today, more info later. Din't mention smoke, or anything else, so maybe not a serious issue.

Just worth remembering that Kodiak has not experienced a rocket launch in years, so any subjective fears or concerns from observers should be assumed to be extreme exaggerations of whatever actually happened. Same thing still happens all the time with extremely routine SpaceX testing in McGregor, "loud boom" this "loud boom" that and endless questions of whether it was a failure or RUD. Best to distrust inexperienced observers and not stretch beyond official confirmation in these situations.

observer is a news reporter at the press viewing site.

[vaporcobra]

He said no launch today, more info later. Din't mention smoke, or anything else, so maybe not a serious issue.

Just worth remembering that Kodiak has not experienced a rocket launch in years, so any subjective fears or concerns from observers should be assumed to be extreme exaggerations of whatever actually happened. Same thing still happens all the time with extremely routine SpaceX testing in McGregor, "loud boom" this "loud boom" that and endless questions of whether it was a failure or RUD. Best to distrust inexperienced observers and not stretch beyond official confirmation in these situations.

observer is a news reporter at the press viewing site.

Still... a news reporter who is an inexperienced rocket launch observer.

[russianhalo117]

He said no launch today, more info later. Din't mention smoke, or anything else, so maybe not a serious issue.

Just worth remembering that Kodiak has not experienced a rocket launch in years, so any subjective fears or concerns from observers should be assumed to be extreme exaggerations of whatever actually happened. Same thing still happens all the time with extremely routine SpaceX testing in McGregor, "loud boom" this "loud boom" that and endless questions of whether it was a failure or RUD. Best to distrust inexperienced observers and not stretch beyond official confirmation in these situations.

observer is a news reporter at the press viewing site.

Still... a news reporter who is an inexperienced rocket launch observer.

might be the whole social media push but the reporter has been covering launches of Kodiak Island since the first Aker Aerospace launch following handover of part the long closed former Chinak Air Force Station by the General Services Administration

[vaporcobra]

might be the whole social media push but the reporter has been covering launches of Kodiak Island since the first Aker Aerospace launch following handover of part the long closed former Chinak Air Force Station by the General Services Administration

Hmmmmmm, are you certain? I know the Kodiak Daily Mirror has covered launch activity in Alaska for years, but I believe Gabe's career in journalism started in early 2015, and he only officially joined the Mirror in 2018.

[russianhalo117]

might be the whole social media push but the reporter has been covering launches of Kodiak Island since the first Aker Aerospace launch following handover of part the long closed former Chinak Air Force Station by the General Services Administration

Hmmmmmm, are you certain? I know the Kodiak Daily Mirror has covered launch activity in Alaska for years, but I believe Gabe's career in journalism started in early 2015, and he only officially joined the Mirror in 2018.

I must be mixing him up. I know that he was with ADN for a while.

[vaporcobra]

might be the whole social media push but the reporter has been covering launches of Kodiak Island since the first Aker Aerospace launch following handover of part the long closed former Chinak Air Force Station by the General Services Administration

Hmmmmmm, are you certain? I know the Kodiak Daily Mirror has covered launch activity in Alaska for years, but I believe Gabe's career in journalism started in early 2015, and he only officially joined the Mirror in 2018.

I must be mixing him up. I know that he was with ADN for a while.

haha who knows minor detail, regardless. Gabe tweeted soon after that a source stated that the vehicle was in good health, so def just a launch abort. That seems to indicate that Astra is also using a hold-down period to verify health in the milliseconds after ignition, which is cool and smart.

[TrevorMonty]

They are not alone F9 had one abort after engine start, I think Electron did too.

Most importantly the LV is still intacted.

[gongora]

0947-EX-ST-2018

This STA is required for the telemetry transmissions from Astra Test Launch 2, a suborbital test of a new commercial launch vehicle. Rocket 2.0 is the next build of our rocket design which we will be launching from Kodiak in a test flight. Our rocket design is not finalized in any way so we need temporary authorization for our telemetry system.

Please explain the purpose of operation:    Astra Test Launch 2 will be the second flight of a new two-stage lox kerosene rocket. For this test the second stage will not fire, and as such the entire mission will be suborbital. The launch site is located at the Pacific Spaceport Complex, Alaska.

Requested Period of Operation
Operation Start Date:   09/01/2018
Operation End Date:   03/01/2019

[Steven Pietrobon]

Does mean that the first launch is Rocket 1.0?

[Kryten]

http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/news/article_485e02f4-7652-11e8-90d3-1fd15f1e4e90.html
Next launch attempt July 14-20th.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

It looks like their rocket has flown off under the radar..... (pun intended)

https://www.twitter.com/kdmgabe/status/1020469573605384192

Gabe Stutman
@kdmgabe
BREAKING: Kodiak's first commercial launch occurred this afternoon at the Pacific Spaceport Complex around 2:00 p.m. Heavy fog blocked visibility. The Calif.-based Astra Space was licensed for a sub-orbital flight test of its Rocket 1 vehicle. Result of the test unclear

(that's Alaska Time so around 22:00 UTC)

[ringsider]

Maybe didn't go exactly as planned:-

https://twitter.com/wikkit/status/1020198106682535936

Ben Brockert @wikkit

Had one of those long, frustrating days that comes near the end of a series of long frustrating days. Intellectually I know that I shouldn't blame myself when everything doesn't work out exactly as planned, but I do anyway.

[Steven Pietrobon]

That tweet was made 24 hours ago, on Friday 20 July 6:30 UTC, which is before the launch. The tweet says 11:45 pm 19 July, but gives no time zone.

[ringsider]

That tweet was made 24 hours ago, on Friday 20 July 6:30 UTC, which is before the launch. The tweet says 11:45 pm 19 July, but gives no time zone.

He is/was working on the Astra launcher, so maybe indicative of some frustrations?

[playadelmars]

Does anyone know what exactly happened yet? Heard some rumors...

[russianhalo117]

That tweet was made 24 hours ago, on Friday 20 July 6:30 UTC, which is before the launch. The tweet says 11:45 pm 19 July, but gives no time zone.

Possibly US ADT.

[brussell]

Does anyone know what exactly happened yet? Heard some rumors...

Per Gabe Stutman's reporting, the test happened on July 20 at 2pm Alaska time. Somewhere else the CEO is quoted calling the test a success. It's still kind of vague though.