[The company’s webcast began at 12:00 p.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see the video player above.]
Small rocket builder Astra is attempting to launch its first mission from Florida on Monday, with the company’s vehicle intending to carry cube satellites to orbit.
Astra is launching the ELaNa 41 mission for NASA, carrying four cube satellites with its LV0008 rocket. The window for liftoff opens at 1 p.m. ET.
This is the company’s first launch from Florida’s Cape Canaveral, with Astra having reached orbit for the first time three months ago with its LV0007 rocket, launched from Kodiak, Alaska.
Astra’s stock rose 4.3% in trading before the launch, from its previous close of $5.33 a share. The company’s valuation has been cut in half over the past three months, with Astra battered alongside other space growth stocks.
The vehicle stands 43 feet tall and fits in the small rocket segment of the launch market. Astra’s goal is to launch as many as its small rockets as it can, aiming to hit a rate of one rocket per day by 2025 and drop its $2.5 million price point even further.
A close up look at Astra’s LV0008 rocket at LC-46 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
John Kraus / Astra
Notably, for this launch Astra received the first Federal Aviation Administration license under Part 450 – a new space industry framework designed to streamline the regulatory process for companies requesting both launch and spacecraft reentry licenses. Astra said the FAA approval process took about three months. This latest development will “make it easier for Astra to launch at a higher frequency out of more launch sites in the United States,” the company said.
The company partnered with NASASpaceflight — a space industry content organization that is not affiliated with the U.S. agency — to webcast the launch.
