Mission name:

NASA TROPICS-1

Launch Window: June 12, 2022, 12pm ET

Launch site: Space Launch Complex 46 (SLC-46), Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida

Launch Vehicle: Rocket 3.3

Customer: NASA

Target Orbital Inclination: 29.75 degrees

Target Altitude: 550 kilometers

Payload: 2x TROPICS 3U CubeSats

Watch Launch Livestream

MISSION OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVE

Astra’s objective is to successfully launch and deploy 2 TROPICS 3U CubeSats as part of NASA’s 6 CubeSat TROPICS constellation. You can read more at astra.com/newsroom and at MIT Lincoln Laboratory's TROPICS mission website.

MISSION TIMELINE

(ALL TIMES ARE APPROXIMATE)

+0s	Lift-off
+6s	Begin Pitch Over
+1min 10s	Max-Q
+3min 00s	Main Engine Cutoff (MECO)
+3min 05s	Fairing separation
+3min 10s	Stage separation
+3min 15s	Upper stage ignition
+8min 30s	Second Engine Cutoff (SECO)
+8min 40s	Payload Deployment

ABOUT VEHICLE

Astra has developed one of the world’s most responsive and affordable orbital launch systems. Rocket 3.3 is an expendable, vertically-launched two stage LOX/kerosene rocket, designed to fit inside a standard shipping container and built to dramatically lower the cost of access to space. Eschewing labor-intensive processes such as carbon composite layups, Astra has focused on proven and cost-efficient metallic structures.

Rocket 3.3 consists of a first stage powered by five electric-pump-fed engines and an upper stage propelled by a single pressure-fed Aether engine.

	First Stage	Upper Stage

Engine Qty	5	1
Thrust per Engine	6,500 lbf SL	740 lbf vacuum
Total Thrust	32,500 lbf SL	740 lbf vacuum
Propellant	LOX / Kerosene	LOX / Kerosene
Overall Length	43 feet
Diameter	52 inches