Footage obtained by a tech news outlet shows the catastrophic failure that occurred during prelaunch testing of Astra’s Rocket 3.0 in March 2020. The explosion, at Alaska’s Pacific Spaceport Complex, was considered an “anomaly” at the time. Alaska Aerospace CEO Mark Lester confirmed the incident and stated that the emergency checklist was being executed. Astra CEO Chris Kemp mentioned that the rocket suffered an anomaly and the hardware was the only thing damaged.
The video clip depicting the rocket bursting into flames showed that the vehicle did not survive. This would have been Astra’s third attempt at an orbital launch. Astra had a mindset that some failure was acceptable, as their main goal was to launch rockets at a high volume and low cost. Despite setbacks, Astra achieved orbit for the first time in November 2021 and a second time in March 2022.
Initially a success story in the space industry, Astra went public in July 2021 at a high valuation. However, their ultra-low-cost launch plans did not materialize, leading to a take-private deal. The company is expected to cease trading on the Nasdaq soon. Astra did not comment on the 2020 launch failure when requested.
It is important for companies in the tech industry to learn from failures and continue to innovate for success in the future.
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