Meet the Team: Benjamin Lyon
As Astra brings on talent, we’ll profile new and veteran members of the Astra team and community as we work toward our mission of improving life on Earth from space. First up, Benjamin Lyon. Benjamin recently joined us as Chief Engineer to help lead our…
Astra Teams Up With NASA to Help Study Hurricanes
We’re happy to share the news that NASA has chosen Astra to help carry out a mission that beautifully reflects our vision of improving life on Earth from space. Under a newly-awarded contract as part of the agency’s Tropics program, Astra will launch six NASA…
Apple Veteran Benjamin Lyon Joins Astra as Chief Engineer
Lyon brings to Astra two decades of experience at Apple designing and manufacturing hardware ALAMEDA, Calif. - Astra today announced that Benjamin Lyon will join Astra as Chief Engineer. Lyon has led the development of core technologies for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Astra is…
Astra to become the first publicly traded space launch company on NASDAQ via merger with Holicity
BlackRock-managed funds and accounts lead investment in Astra to launch a new generation of space services to improve life on Earth ALAMEDA, Calif., February 2, 2021 - Astra, the fastest privately-funded company in history to demonstrate orbital launch capability, and Holicity Inc. (NASDAQ: HOL) (“Holicity”),…
Hello, Nasdaq: Astra is Going Public
Space has always captivated us because it represents a frontier that is just out of reach and a future yet to be written. When I served as Chief Technology Officer at NASA, I was part of a team of extraordinary innovators who believed that space…
Astra makes it to space!
https://youtu.be/pQG8Z_wko1w December 15th, 2020 was a historic day for Astra and America, as we joined a small, elite group of privately funded companies that have made it to space. We couldn’t be more proud that our team accomplished this milestone in the face of…
Rocket 3.2 Ready To Launch!
Ready to Launch! Astra’s mission is to launch a new generation of space services to improve life on earth, and we’re accomplishing this by making space more accessible through affordable, regular launches. Only three months since our last test launch, we’re back on the pad…
We have liftoff!
At 8:19pm PT, Rocket 3.1 left the Alaskan coast at Astra’s Kodiak launch site. We're excited to have our first orbital attempt under our belt! As we’ve always said, we expect it to take three flights to make it to orbit. Tonight, we saw a…
Rocket 3.1 and Astra’s path to orbit
Astra is on a mission to launch a new generation of space services to observe, connect and improve life on earth. Despite damage to our launch system this spring, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and even an earthquake off the coast of Kodiak, Alaska, our team…
Rocket 1 of 3, Launch Attempt 1
Today, Astra began countdown of the first orbital launch as the final remaining competitor in the DARPA launch challenge. Our team decided to hold the launch at T-53 seconds after a sensor reported unexpected data that could have impacted the success of the flight. Out of…
Defining Launch Success
Today, we are kicking off a campaign of three launches. Our latest rocket will launch from Alaska’s Kodiak Island in a bid to win the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Launch Challenge. The winning company must successfully deliver a payload into low-Earth orbit on short notice—then be prepared…
Welcome to Astra
Introducing Astra – and a New Era of Innovation in Space By Chris Kemp, Co-Founder and CEO, and Adam London, Co-Founder and CTO For the past three years, we’ve been quietly assembling a team unlike any other, building a space company unlike any other and…