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Astra Space Inc. (formerly Ventions) Launch


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That was a sight to see. I thought for sure the flight would fail immediately, props for getting as far as they did. Seems like engine trouble on the launch? Low TWR and tilting, but it was able to recover.

Edited by RyanRising
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That really was a hell of a launch, now I know how the people who watched that Proton live mush have felt. Most exciting rocket launch i've ever watched

6 hours ago, RyanRising said:

That was a sight to see. I thought for sure the flight would fail immediately, props for getting as far as they did. Seems like engine trouble on the launch? Low TWR and tilting, but it was able to recover.

The theory I have heard that seems the most likely is that one of the 5 engines failed to ignite, giving a TWR near 1. The first stage then wasted a large amount of propellant trying to still liftoff (which it did) preventing it from reaching the right MECO altitude and setting it on a spin

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6 hours ago, Beccab said:

That really was a hell of a launch, now I know how the people who watched that Proton live mush have felt. Most exciting rocket launch i've ever watched

The theory I have heard that seems the most likely is that one of the 5 engines failed to ignite, giving a TWR near 1. The first stage then wasted a large amount of propellant trying to still liftoff (which it did) preventing it from reaching the right MECO altitude and setting it on a spin

I've heard the engine failed one second into flight. If it had just failed to ignite there would have been a hot fire abort and the launch clamps wouldn't have released.

May have been a further issue around maxQ, looked to be beginning to shimmy before the terminate command was sent (which I've heard was due to flight trajectory departure).

Not sure at this point if MECO was near maxQ because of the wasted propellant early in flight or due to the terminate command being sent.

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4 minutes ago, RCgothic said:

I've heard the engine failed one second into flight. If it had just failed to ignite there would have been a hot fire abort and the launch clamps wouldn't have released.

May have been a further issue around maxQ, looked to be beginning to shimmy before the terminate command was sent (which I've heard was due to flight trajectory departure).

Not sure at this point if MECO was near maxQ because of the wasted propellant early in flight or due to the terminate command being sent.

That wasn't the actual maxQ either probably, just the point in time where maxQ would have happened in the original flight profile. I believe that was most likely MECO

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Wiki says, it was engine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockets_by_Astra#Rocket_3.3

Quote

On 28 August 2021 at 22:35 UTC, Astra launched its fourth Rocket 3 vehicle, Rocket 3.3 (LV0006). The flight carried an instrumentation payload for the United States Space Force under the Space Test Program, and a separation of payload from the launch vehicle was not planned. Shortly after liftoff, a single engine failure caused the vehicle to drift horizontally several tens of meters sideways off the launch pad before ascending vertically. The vehicle deviated from its licensed trajectory and range safety terminated the flight at approximately T+2:28. The rocket reached a peak altitude of 50 km before crashing into the ocean downrange of the launch site causing the complete loss of the launch vehicle and its payload. No injuries or damage to property were reported from this incident. [26][27]

 

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8 hours ago, Beccab said:

That really was a hell of a launch, now I know how the people who watched that Proton live mush have felt. Most exciting rocket launch i've ever watched

The theory I have heard that seems the most likely is that one of the 5 engines failed to ignite, giving a TWR near 1. The first stage then wasted a large amount of propellant trying to still liftoff (which it did) preventing it from reaching the right MECO altitude and setting it on a spin

Visible damage on the base of the first stage after MECO (during the tumble) suggests that one of the QDs failed to separate, damaging the engine nearest the tower. That engine’s shutdown caused the tip-over (which fortunately pointed it away from the tower) and initiated the TWR=1 powerslide. Aggressive early gravity drag meant MECO came too low.

But the SAS did an amazing job, that’s for sure. 

It wasn’t a failed ignition, or the flight would have had a commanded abort on the pad before the clamps released.

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So... here is an example of a visible failure - that I don't think hurts this company. 

While I missed the stream, if Manley says it was well done, that's good enough for me.  If anything, this openness helps to elevate their visibility and shows that they are working and have several mature systems (flight controls, flight management, etc). 

The smart thing was for the CEO to have stood in front of the other booster - which was a very SX - style "space is hard, but we are iterating fast" move that is a good look for these startups. 

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25 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

So... here is an example of a visible failure - that I don't think hurts this company. 

While I missed the stream, if Manley says it was well done, that's good enough for me.  If anything, this openness helps to elevate their visibility and shows that they are working and have several mature systems (flight controls, flight management, etc). 

The smart thing was for the CEO to have stood in front of the other booster - which was a very SX - style "space is hard, but we are iterating fast" move that is a good look for these startups. 

Too bad it happened on a Saturday because this would be a great time to pick up their stock. 

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