Astra Space, Inc. is an American space company that aims to improve life on Earth from space. Initially an aerospace technology research firm, Astra shifted to developing launch vehicles and now focuses on providing dedicated orbital launch services and space products. They offer the Astra Spacecraft Engine™, an electric propulsion system for small satellites. Astra's customers include NASA, DARPA, Planet, Spire, and Spaceflight.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
The FAA issued a launch license on 2018-10-15 to Astra Space Inc. authorizing a suborbital flight of its "Rocket 2" vehicle from Launch Pad 2 at the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska.
Vector performed operations tests at Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska prior to the Astra Space launch ahead of a planned first launch of its Vector-R rocket from the site later 2018.
The Astra Space 2018-07-20 launch does not appear in the list of licensed launches maintained by the FAA’s AST on its public website, even though that list includes launches since the Astra event.
Astra Space had planned to perform a suborbital test flight at the Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska earlier in 2018 but postponed launch attempts and has not announced a new schedule for another test.