Author Topic: SCRUB: Astra – DARPA Challenge launch #1 – Kodiak – March 2, 2020  (Read 39555 times)

Offline PM3

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https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1234634165859102720
Quote from: Jeff Foust
Also, DARPA says the cubesat payloads will be removed from the rocket and given back to owners.

Astra says they will “root-cause” the anomaly and try again likely in a  week or two, not in days but also not in months.

So this DARPA launch is finally scrubbed.
"Never, never be afraid of the truth." -- Jim Bridenstine

Offline Kosmos2001

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Better luck next time!

Online ZachS09

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Since the cubesats are being recalled, I'm guessing they MIGHT be launched on another vehicle. Possibly PSLV.
Liftoff for St. Jude's! Go Dragon, Go Falcon, Godspeed Inspiration4!

Offline Bean Kenobi

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Since the cubesats are being recalled, I'm guessing they MIGHT be launched on another vehicle. Possibly PSLV.

Very doubtful for Prometheus since it'a a US military cubesat funded by DoD.

Online Comga

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Quote from: Jeff Foust
Also, DARPA says the cubesat payloads will be removed from the rocket and given back to owners.

Astra says they will “root-cause” the anomaly and try again likely in a  week or two, not in days but also not in months.

The removal and return of the payloads is surprising.
The $2M prize money pales in comparison to the investment Astra has received, and that investment comes with the expectation of building a business, not winning a few prizes.
They say they will try again soon, which makes sense.
But Astra isn’t going to find other payloads immediately.
The DoD payloads aren’t going to find alternative launch opportunities right away either.
I would have expected the payloads to stay integrated while Astra keeps trying. 
It doesn’t bode well.
What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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This was a test flight like the first flight of Electron, which did not have a paying customer on board. Winning the $2M prize would have been a bonus.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

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