When I read their SPAC presentation (linked above), I was scoffing. But then I started reading various Ars articles: At Astra, failure is an option Astra finally launches its first orbital rocket, and it flew for 30 seconds Astra pitches larger rocket, suborbital cargo-delivery plan to Air Force Astra set up a rocket launch with five people and came within seconds of orbit They haven't done their third launch yet, but they might just get there. I still think this is a stretch, but the public seems intent on throwing money onto space companies these days, so what do I know?
Yup. Am still not sold. Plenty of competition in the small launcher market. Building a mega-constellation (one of their planned offerings) with small daily launches does not seem that efficient. The big-hoopla about hiring a senior Apple Engineer notwithstanding. But hey, HOL is relatively cheap right now so I will soon own a microscopic piece of a space start-up!
Soon as the market opens. Just a bit, not 4 figures. (I should really be studying for this exam, but this is more fun)
So i think i saw they are currently charging $2.5M for a launch of 150kg, meanwhile SpaceX charges $1M for a 200kg rideshare which of course has limited launch dates and orbits to choose from. Will small sats really be willing/need to pay extra for that flexibility?
That is what I am wondering about. That decision hinges on a number of factors for a satellite operator, like cost of launch V overall cost of the mission/service/operation (if the sat costs 10x the launch cost you may not care), proven reliability of launch platform (minimize risk or loss of sat, although if you want to launch 1000s you may not care as much), how close you need to stick to an operational schedule, etc. I think this is why they are seemingly focused on quick-to-operational service constellations. Seems like a good fit. Question is, is there a market there. But one Starship launch could take care of an entire cube-sat constellation...
It’s an interesting space for sure. I think the sweet spot for someone like astra is a small constellation. Something that’s beyond the just-get-a-proto-on-orbit phase but not so big that the racked up launch cost becomes untenable. Their strength will definitely be their launch rate, assuming they can get down to the ~days frequency.