Rocket Launched by Space Start-Up Astra Crashes in Alaska
- Company competing to create cheap rockets to ferry satellites
- SpaceX’s Elon Musk tweets encouragement: ‘Rockets are hard’
The Astra. rocket takes off shortly before crasing in Kodiak, Alaska, on Sept. 12.
Source: Astra Space Inc.
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Observers in Kodiak, Alaska, were treated to some pyrotechnics Friday night, as the start-up Astra Space Inc. tried to reach orbit with its 38-foot-tall rocket for the first time.
Astra’s vehicle took off at 7:19 p.m. local time from the Pacific Spaceport Complex and flew for roughly 30 seconds before veering off course -- at which point its engines were remotely shut down. Gravity did its thing next, as the rocket tumbled back toward the ground and exploded in a forested area.