Astra Space's "Rocket 3.0" to orbit soon!
 

Hello All,

A “secret” satellite launch may occur in a few days at Alaska’s Kodiak launch site (see: https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/02/...ch-from-alaska/ ), when Astra Space’s https://astra.com/ (their “Welcome” video is spectacular!) “Rocket 3.0” lifts off (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astra_Space *and* https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...0i3.PyZNPm7Mqr0 ).

I read about them a couple days ago. Not much info on the rocket at the time.

BTW, who all read "Ad Astra" when you saw the thread title? :o

That might be part of their motto, given the way they've operated - "Ad Astra per Incognito" (I'm not terribly good at Latin, but the English phrase I'm trying for is "To the Stars, Secretly"). :-)

Their operations at our Kodiak launch facility here--including their previous suborbital shots--have all been very hush-hush, with the launch NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen and Mariners) being almost the only information released to the public. As with the little-described rocket-boosted, sub-scale spaceplane test (similar in type to the rocket-boosted aircraft & missile model tests that Wallops did a lot of in the 1940s and 1950s) conducted by UP Aerospace at their SpaceLoft rockets' New Mexico launch site for one of the large aerospace firms (I forget which) a few years ago, the Kodiak facility also honors its clients' requests--when they make them--for discreteness. In a way, they act in a manner rather like that of Swiss banks, which protect their account holders' identities when asked.

I watched a video on YouTube about them by Scott Manley. I found it interesting that the rocket was shipped and could be prepped in a typical shipping container. It seemed to me that they could be shipped and ready to launch from numerous sites (or theoretically from anywhere they could set up the launch pad) to achieve whatever orbit was necessary for their cargo.

It almost smelled of a clandestine military operation gone public.

Link to live feed here, going live in 19 hours:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wzagx8kC7s

Scrubbed for today.

The LIVE countdown and launch coverage of Astra Space's "Rocket 3.0" (today, Sunday, March 1) will begin in 63 minutes on SpaceFlightNow.com--it can be seen there (see: https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/02/...-status-center/ ) and on YouTube (at the link posted by BARGeezer) *here* : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wzagx8kC7s . Also:

Here (see: https://www.youtube.com/results?sea...ley+Astra+Space ) are Scott Manley's videos about the company and their launch vehicle. Incidentally, "Rocket 3.0", like Rocket Lab's Electron, also uses electric pump-fed kerolox rocket engines (of the company's own design), and the vehicle is a descendant of an earlier, built-but-not-flown, air-launched (from an F-15E) microsat launcher called SALVO (see: https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/astra.htm and [SALVO]: https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/salvo.htm & https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...Ha-LD_4Q4dUDCAs ), and:

*IF* it's clear to the south at launch time (a very "iffy" proposition, as it's 9° [with a "Feels Like" index of 5°], with light snow and fog right now), I ^may^--depending on the sky brightness, the Sun's position in the sky, and how bright and large the vehicle's exhaust flame and any smoke or contrail are (plus its angular elevation from here, depending on the orbit they're shooting for)--be able to see it ascending if there's a clear patch of sky in that direction. Luckily, my apartment building has large south-facing windows in the Social Rooms on most of its five floors. Also:

When the first orbital launch out of Kodiak occurred on September 30, 2001 (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena_I ), I was easily able to follow the four-satellite Kodiak Star mission's ascending Athena I launch vehicle as it rose to the south. However, it was much larger than Astra Space's "Rocket 3.0," and its solid propellant Castor 120 first stage and Orbus 21D second stage both created dense, grayish-white smoke trails that were easy to see (and it was a nice, clear, sunny, and reasonably warm--for Alaska, which I'm acclimated to--afternoon).

Scrubbed again.
Rescheduled for 3/2.

That's odd--the DARPA one (see: https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/02/...-status-center/ ) is still counting down to today's (Sunday, March 1) scheduled launch. The Kodiak launch site's (now called the Pacific Spaceport Complex) website http://akaerospace.com/capabilities...lex-alaska-psca , unfortunately, doesn't appear to have a live launch countdown feed (our local sounding rocket launch site [30 miles north of Fairbanks], the Poker Flat Research Range https://www.pfrr.alaska.edu/content/welcome-poker-flat , does).

Fast forward on the "live" DARPA feed to the 2:30 mark for an explanation of the scrub: weather issues. Next launch window on Monday.