Astra Space’s Rocket 3.3, an American ultralight launcher, did not place NASA Tropics satellites into orbit due to a technical issue during flight. The developer’s press service described the incident as a normal first-stage flight, with the second stage shutting down early and failing to deliver the payload to orbit.
The launch took place from the Kennedy Space Center complex 46 on Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 13:43 Eastern Time, which is 20:43 Moscow time. The company framed the weather satellites as a milestone in tropical storm monitoring, signaling a potential improvement in global storm tracking capabilities.
In March, Astra announced the first successful deployment of functioning satellites after previous attempts had failed three times, marking a notable step forward for the program.
Earlier reports mentioned NASA plans to deploy a device to study a lunar feature described as a mysterious city. The so-called lunar Gruytuizen city consists of large domes that have historically sparked speculation about the living spaces of lunar inhabitants during earlier eras.