Wave of layoffs leads US rocket launch company Astra to delay next-generation rocket test flight date

News from this site on August 6. According to a Bloomberg report on the 5th, the US rocket launch company Astra Space is expected to postpone the first test flight and launch of its next-generation rocket because the company plans to lay off employees to cut costs and "Prioritize other projects".

Astra issued a statement on Friday announcing that

Since the beginning of this quarter, the company has carried out approximately 25% of its layoffs. On August 4, 70 people were laid off. The company has since reassigned 50 engineers and manufacturing personnel from its launch services division to a unit designed to build spacecraft engines.

In March of this year,

Astra also announced that the next-generation rocket will complete its first test flight by the end of this year. The above-mentioned twists and turns will lead to the postponement of the original process.

This site previously reported that Astra announced in September 2022 that

it would no longer launch the remaining TROPICS satellites for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), but it would still launch other similar satellites for the agency Scientific mission.

In June 2022, Astra attempted to launch the TROPICS satellite (a small satellite constellation for high-temporal resolution observation of precipitation structure and storm intensity) for the first time, but failed. The reason for the failure was that Astra's rocket's second-stage engine shut down prematurely before sending the payload into orbit.

Astra plans to start developing a large launch vehicle code-named "Rocket 4" after terminating its supply of rockets to NASA.

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