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Yesterday afternoon (Feb 10th) at 3 pm EST, Astra's Rocket 3.3 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying 4 small satellites. Approximately 3 minutes into the flight, during fairing separation and second stage separation, the rocket experienced an anomaly causing the second stage to spiral out of control under power, losing the vehicle and payloads. Astra will work closely with the FAA to pinpoint the cause so they can return to flight with confidence.
The mission for this launch was for NASA's Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS), which helps with the commercial development of smallsat launch vehicles. Rocket 3.3 was carrying 4 satellites for NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa 41) built by students from the University of Alabama, New Mexico University, University of California, and from NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston.