Astra bags launch service contract for NASA's TROPICS mission

Astra, a California-based launch vehicle company, has bagged a USD7.95 million launch service contract for NASA's Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of SmallSats (TROPICS) mission to study storm processes, the US space agency announced on Friday.

Astra Space Inc. was established in October 2016 by Chris Kemp and Adam London with the mission of launching a new generation of space services to improve life on Earth.

The TROPICS mission comprises a constellation of six CubeSats - each the size of a shoebox - in three low-Earth orbital planes. Aimed at increasing the scientific community's understanding of storm processes, the mission will provide rapid-refresh microwave measurements over the tropics that can be used to observe the thermodynamics of the troposphere and precipitation structure for storm systems at the mesoscale and synoptic-scale over the entire storm lifecycle.

Astra Space will launch the CubeSats on the company's Rocket 3 from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands with three separate launches over a period of four months. NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will manage the launch service for the TROPICS mission.

The TROPICS mission is targeted for launch between January 8 and July 31, 2022.