KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — The launch of a test rocket manufactured by California-based Astra Space Inc. was canceled minutes prior to liftoff at the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak.
The Daily Mirror reports that Bruce Walter, the spaceport’s facilities director, said the canceled launch was related to Astra’s vehicle but that the specific cause remains unclear.
Walter called the incident very disappointing.
Federal Aviation Administration documents filed on March 30 say Astra was authorized to launch a suborbital vehicle to carry “an inert upper stage on a suborbital trajectory without a payload.”
The Daily Mirror reports that an inert upper stage module does not travel into space.
Walter said the launch would have been Astra’s first. He said no timeline has been established for another launch attempt by the company.
