NASA Satellites Lost as Astra Rocket Mission Goes Awry

Space can be a heartbreaker.

Commercial space company Astra is still working out some kinks with its rocket system.

The launch took place from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

“We had a nominal first stage flight.

Tropicsstands for “time-resolved observations of precipitation structure and storm intensity with a constellation of smallsats.”

It was designed to use six small satellites to study storm systems in the tropics.

Sunday’s mission was scheduled to be the first of three Tropics launches for NASA.

The Federal Aviation Administration and Astra will investigate what went wrong with Tropics-1.

NASA won’t be rushing toward another launch with Astra while this plays out.

As NASA said, it recognizes “the risks inherent in a new launch provider.”