[ad_1]
It doesn’t count Astra space yet. The company, which was taken private again earlier this year for a fraction of its previous value, has been awarded a new contract with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to support the development of a next-generation launch system for time-sensitive space missions.
The contract, awarded by DIU under the Novel Responsive Space Delivery (NRSD) program, has a maximum value of $44 million. The money (however much has already been sent) will go towards the continued development of Astra’s Launch System 2, designed for very fast and low-cost launches.
The new funding is a sign that not everyone has lost faith in Astra, a startup that went public in 2021 at a valuation of $2.1 billion with big ambitions to produce small, cheap rockets capable of carrying out hundreds of missions a year. But the company burned through its cash as it struggled to materialize those statements, racking up several failed launches (and two successful ones) before announcing a switch to a Rocket 4 with a 600-kilogram payload capacity.
The company spent several months searching for—and failing to secure—sufficient financing to stay afloat in the public markets. The saga came to a head in March when the company announced that the board had accepted an offer from co-founders Chris Kemp and Adam London to buy the remaining Astra shares at just $0.50 per share. Astra ceased trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange in July.
DIU is clearly impressed by Astra’s proposal, however, and the new contract could help see Rocket 4 reach orbit for the first time. The goal of this launch, according to a document released by DIU last summer, is to demonstrate one or more of these capabilities: space-based delivery from one orbit to another; An orbital return from space to a specified location on Earth; Or through a specific orbit or path in space. The document states that the solutions must be ready to fly within 24 months.
Currently, Astra is in the initial phase of the contract to further refine the concept of operations, but if a prototype is selected, the company could advance to additional phases for one or more mission demonstrations. Later phases could include demonstrations with larger payloads delivered with increased precision or attempting to use the vehicle to support time-sensitive operations, such as disaster response.
DIU has already issued two awards under the NRSD programme, to Spaceport Company for its planned mobile offshore launch platform, and to Stoke Space, which also aims to make point-to-point space cargo delivery a reality.
[ad_2]