California Company Plans Commercial Rocket Launch

Notices from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Alaska Aerospace Corporation indicate the launch is planned for Friday

California-based Astra Space Inc. has scheduled a commercial rocket launch at the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Kodiak Island.

Notices from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Alaska Aerospace Corporation indicate the launch is planned for Friday with backup dates scheduled through Oct. 16, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Tuesday.

The notices don't name the company behind the launch, but other government filings name Astra Space, which is licensed for a suborbital flight of its "Rocket 1" vehicle.

"I can only verify it's the same company that launched last time," Alaska Aerospace Corporation CEO Craig Campbell said.

The private space company conducted a test launch at the spaceport in July that was terminated 21 seconds into the rocket's flight. The rocket was terminated before it reached its suborbital destination, but the launch was still considered successful, Campbell said. A suborbital flight is used for testing and does not travel into space.

"They got a whole bunch of data and a lot of good information from this launch, but it didn't complete its full cycle," Campbell said in July.

The company based in Alameda, California, also considered the launch successful.

"The launch exceeded our minimum success criteria," the company said after the launch. "Our team, customers and investors are all thrilled with the outcome."

A company representative said in July that it was planning a second test launch in Kodiak. The first launch was canceled multiple times before occurring in July.

That launch was also the first that the Alaska Aerospace Corporation facilitated for a private spaceflight company. It had handled nearly 20 launches for the federal government since the complex opened in 1998.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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