Rocket Report: DOJ sues SpaceX; a look inside doomed Spaceport Camden
Enlarge / SpaceX's Super Heavy booster, numbered Booster 9, rolls back to its launch pad in Texas for more testing. The rocket now has a new structural staging ring on top. Welcome to Edition 6.08 of the Rocket Report! The US Department of Justice is taking SpaceX to court over allegations of hiring discrimination, but…
Chris Kemp unplugged—Astra’s CEO dishes on the space company’s struggles
Enlarge / Chris Kemp, founder and CEO of Astra. Chris Kemp is a fighter. That's the price of admission if you want to compete in the brutal small launch industry. He is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Astra, founded in 2016 with a goal of essentially commoditizing small satellite launch services, or at least…
Astra’s new rocket won’t launch until 2024—if it ever flies
Enlarge / Astra revealed a prototype of its Rocket 4 launch vehicle in May. Astra is running out of money. It's been a year since Astra shelved its first orbital-class rocket after just two successful launches in seven flights. Chris Kemp, Astra's founder and CEO, last year unveiled a new rocket design he said would…
Rocket Report: Rocket Lab’s next step in reuse, Blue Origin engine...
Enlarge / File photo of a hotfire test of a Blue Origin BE-4 engine. Welcome to Edition 6.02 of the Rocket Report! I'm on my third week at Ars, and the space beat is as busy as ever. Going forward, Eric and I will alternate work on the Rocket Report every other week. SpaceX broke…
As losses mount, Astra announces a radical pivot to a larger...
Enlarge / Rocket 3.3 is seen on the launch pad in June 2022 ahead of the launch of a TROPICS mission for NASA.Astra/Brady Kenniston Astra Space emerged from stealth mode two and a half years ago with a bold vision: It would build inexpensive rockets quickly and with a tolerance for some failure. The idea…
Astra explains previous failure, sets October date for next launch attempt
Enlarge / Photo of Astra's second orbital launch attempt, in December 2020.Astra/John Kraus Astra, a small-rocket company based in California still striving to reach orbit, has set of target date of October 27 for its next launch attempt. The rocket, simply named "LV0007," will carry a test payload weighing a few dozen kilograms for the…
