Failure to launch, satellite lost: Why did NASA dare to hand over the satellite to the company to la

On the evening of June 11, local time, a routine launch mission of satellite startup ASTRA failed, which led to the loss of two small meteorological satellites of NASA.

Two satellites lost!

Astra is a very young Rockets launch company. It was established in 2016. The company aims to become the first choice for small satellite operators by providing flexible, professional and cost -effective rail flight services.

In December 2020, ASTRA performed rocket test flights for the first time in the Pacific Space Port Complex located in Alaska Kodiak Island. Due to the problem of engine thrust, the Rockets failed to enter the scheduled track. On June 30, 2021, Astra was listed on Nasdaq, becoming the first space startup in Nasdaq.

Although Astra has just been established, it may be because of its competitive price advantage. The company, which has been established for 6 years, has obtained more than 50 launch tasks, and the contract price has exceeded $ 150 million. It is said that in order to speed up entering the global space market, ASTRA's plan is to complete the monthly launch task in 2021. By 2022, the frequency of transmitting frequency per week will be achieved. In the end, by 2025, it will be able to achieve once a day emission per day. frequency.

It sounds very tall. After all, a small rocket company that has just been established has been able to have such ambitious dreams, which is enough to respect the company's development. Just like SpaceX, which supported Musk that year, although it was a small Rockets company, NASA also gave it a $ 7.95 million task: three small cube satellites for NASA were launched in three times to study the headache of Americans a headache for Americans Hurricane problem.

Today's launch is the first time in these three launch tasks. Originally, the two satellites were sent to the Earth to synchronize tracks. Failure to launch.

Why doesn't NASA hand over the launch task to Musk?

Seeing that millions of dollars were lost like this, NASA's heart was cold: I knew this, just give Musk to launch!

Of course, if you lose the two satellites, Astra must have to pay people, although it is actually not lost for NASA. But for ASTRA, this time it can be described as losing his wife and folding soldiers.

So why does NASA awarded this launch contract to "strategic partner" Musk? After all, the MINI satellite with two bread satellites with a thrust of 28 tons is launched. For Musk, it is a slaughter sword for chickens, which is not a matter.

The answer is of course: NASA supports the development of satellite startups, which is a win -win matter for both parties.

First of all, satellite startups need a lot of business support. Only with business can we continuously improve the performance of rockets, accumulate launch experience, and eventually promote the company to move towards a mature rocket launch company. At the same time, ASTRA's launch costs are relatively low. Therefore, NASA is willing to grant some of the not important launch tasks to the former, which can be described as happy. After all, a satellite studying a hurricane is lost. It is not so urgent anyway.

Secondly, the development of a large number of satellite startups is conducive to the healthy development of the space launch market. NASA funded Musk to successfully achieve manned space flight. Since then, NASA does not need to go up with people's breath and buy a Russian spacecraft at a high price, but after all, all eggs cannot be placed in a basket. It supports Musk's SpaceX, and at the same time, the reason for Bosos's blue origin and a large number of launch contracts for Boeing.

Supporting small satellite startups such as ASTRA can not only achieve small cost launch, but also optimize the space launch market layout, but also ensure that Americans maintain huge competitiveness in the global aerospace launch market. No?

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