---
title: "Government Contractor Lost Two NASA Satellites, Company Admits"
description: "Mistakes are bound to happen in rocket launches, but a massive one last summer resulted in a rocket launch company losing two NASA satellites."
date: "2023-03-05"
modified: "2023-03-05"
authors:
  - name: "Noor Al-Sibai"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/astra-lost-nasa-satellites"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "astra"
  - "cubesats"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# Government Contractor Lost Two NASA Satellites, Company Admits

![Mistakes are bound to happen in rocket launches, but a massive one last summer resulted in a rocket launch company losing two NASA satellites.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/astra-lost-nasa-satellites.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Getty Images/Futurism\</em\>*

## Owning Up

Mistakes are bound to happen in the fiery world of rocket launches.

In a [statement](<https://astra.com/news/conclusion-tropics-1-mishap-investigation/>) released this week, space vehicle launch company Astra admitted it lost two out of six hurricane-tracking cubesats that belonged to NASA last summer [worth nearly $8 million altogether](<https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-launch-service-contract-for-tropics-mission-to-study-storm-processes>) — which led to the space agency [looking to other vendors](<https://spacenews.com/nasa-looking-for-new-launch-of-remaining-tropics-cubesats/>) to get its remaining four satellites into space.

Last June, Astra's Rocket 3 failed to reach orbit following a second stage failure. As [*Space.com* notes](<https://www.space.com/astra-rocket-loss-nasa-satellite-runaway-event>), initial investigations following the debacle found that the vehicle seemed to burn through its fuel supply much quicker than intended.

Astra later confirmed these findings, arguing that it happened due to a number of "small factors," including, bizarrely, that it was extra warm that day in Cape Canaveral, "which meant the fuel was slightly warmer than in prior flights."

## Chain Reaction

Ultimately, the problem seems to have been the result of a series of unfortunate events that caused Astra to lose the two storm-tracking cubesats — and, in the end, the company's contract with NASA.

In fact, it wasn't even the last incident involving Astra's Rocket 3. The California-based company scrapped the design altogether last year [following a whole series of launch failures](<https://www.space.com/astra-cancels-rocket-3-production-launch-failures>). The company is now working on a new design called Rocket 4.

While it's a major setback for the space launch company, it**'s** important for these kinds of government contractors to take responsibility when they mess up — and it's good to see some humility.

**More on space issues:** [*Elon Musk's SpaceX Satellites Are Messing Up the Hubble Space Telescope*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musks-spacex-satellites-messing-up-hubble>)

## Author
At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/noorfromfuturism.bsky.social>)