Just as an aside to the static fire video they showed during the investor day presentation. It was mentioned that they built a static fire stand of their own to test the new engine. I was looking around and it looks like they set up shop outside castle airport in Atwater CA. Specifically 2500 Test cell which, based on google maps photos, is identical to the pictures they showed in the presentation. Additionally, In the last image you can see some planes in the background that can also be seen behind the stand on google maps. Astra has also done Rocket 3 static fires at castle airport before.
Quote from: josephus on 05/30/2022 08:01 pmShouldn't Astra get its own subsection in the "COMMERCIAL AND US GOVERNMENT LAUNCH VEHICLES" section?Please yes
Shouldn't Astra get its own subsection in the "COMMERCIAL AND US GOVERNMENT LAUNCH VEHICLES" section?
I originay thought Astra's need to built facilities for high volume production is risky if launch business didn't pan out. Having surplus high tech production facilities means they can just switch to contract manufacturing. Keep their staff, facilities and tap into alternative revenue source . Same can be said for all startup launch companies. Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk
Astra got the California governor and Alameda mayor to endorse their factory on May 24th. I don't remember seeing a video of the governor visiting any other launcher company in California. Why Astra?.....
Why Astra?
Quote from: josephus on 06/02/2022 06:15 pmAstra got the California governor and Alameda mayor to endorse their factory on May 24th. I don't remember seeing a video of the governor visiting any other launcher company in California. Why Astra?.....Not much of a choice. Either the relatively unknown Astra without much political baggage or the company with the flight proven totem on display that have recent issues with some Democratic political critters. The California governor has to cater to his political base.
Quote from: Zed_Noir on 06/05/2022 01:14 pmQuote from: josephus on 06/02/2022 06:15 pmAstra got the California governor and Alameda mayor to endorse their factory on May 24th. I don't remember seeing a video of the governor visiting any other launcher company in California. Why Astra?.....Not much of a choice. Either the relatively unknown Astra without much political baggage or the company with the flight proven totem on display that have recent issues with some Democratic political critters. The California governor has to cater to his political base.Maybe the Governor is trying to give a visibility boost and vote of confidence to a young company in his State? A company that needs Federal contracts and shareholder support to survive and grow?Or maybe it's just because Astra is more conveniently located?[other company] is doing fine. They don't need Newsom hanging around.
Quote from: arachnitect on 06/06/2022 12:13 amQuote from: Zed_Noir on 06/05/2022 01:14 pmQuote from: josephus on 06/02/2022 06:15 pmAstra got the California governor and Alameda mayor to endorse their factory on May 24th. I don't remember seeing a video of the governor visiting any other launcher company in California. Why Astra?.....Not much of a choice. Either the relatively unknown Astra without much political baggage or the company with the flight proven totem on display that have recent issues with some Democratic political critters. The California governor has to cater to his political base.Maybe the Governor is trying to give a visibility boost and vote of confidence to a young company in his State? A company that needs Federal contracts and shareholder support to survive and grow?Or maybe it's just because Astra is more conveniently located?[other company] is doing fine. They don't need Newsom hanging around.Forget [other company], of the six most promising small-launch companies, only Firefly Aerospace isn't based out of California. Haven't seen Newsom visiting Rocket Lab, Virgin Orbit, ABL Space Systems, or Relativity Space either.Although "they didn't invite him" remains plausible.
Quote from: Tywin on 05/30/2022 08:53 pmQuote from: josephus on 05/30/2022 08:01 pmShouldn't Astra get its own subsection in the "COMMERCIAL AND US GOVERNMENT LAUNCH VEHICLES" section?Please yes Yes. Long overdue. Sixteen different launch vehicles have attempted orbit this year. Only one of the companies or countries responsible for these 16 (Astra) does not have its own section here. Astra Rocket 3.3 is one of only seven launch vehicles or LV families that has flown more than once this year! - Ed Kyle
With only a limited number of of launches a year, that comes down to the same thing. Apple produces millions of cellphones, that's why that works for them. And I get why Astra now shifts to this approach as well (space is hard and building rockets is a very big learning process, you need more than 4-5 design iterations), but it's still a massive shift from 'cheap production cost by mass production'
Quote from: edkyle99 on 05/30/2022 09:48 pmQuote from: Tywin on 05/30/2022 08:53 pmQuote from: josephus on 05/30/2022 08:01 pmShouldn't Astra get its own subsection in the "COMMERCIAL AND US GOVERNMENT LAUNCH VEHICLES" section?Please yes Yes. Long overdue. Sixteen different launch vehicles have attempted orbit this year. Only one of the companies or countries responsible for these 16 (Astra) does not have its own section here. Astra Rocket 3.3 is one of only seven launch vehicles or LV families that has flown more than once this year! - Ed KyleI'd say 'flown' once, and 'exploded' once But that'll hopefully change next week.
The company said in a May 5 earnings call that the three TROPICS launches were the next on the manifest and would take place in “a pretty rapid cadence,” according to Kemp. However, he said it was unlikely the company would conduct all three launches in the second quarter....Speaking at a meeting of the National Academies’ Space Studies Board June 9, Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for science, said the launches would take place about two weeks apart. TROPICS requires three launches to place the satellites into separate orbital planes to improve revisit times....NASA is embracing the risk associated with the vehicle. Zurbuchen noted at the Space Studies Board meeting that the mission requires only two of the three launches to be successful in order to meet its science goals.
The second and third TROPICS launches — currently planned for late June and mid-July...