Mission Reports

Astra’s small satellite launcher returned to flight Tuesday and delivered an unspecified number of small satellites into orbit after a successful liftoff from Alaska, helping clear the way for a series of three launches for NASA in the coming months at Cape Canaveral.

Despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and worsening relations, joint operation of the International Space Station continues normally with plans in place to bring NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei back to Earth as planned aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft at the end of the month, a senior NASA manager said Monday.

Astra engineers identified two problems — an electrical design issue and a software glitch — that prevented a rocket from reaching orbit last month with a suite of NASA-sponsored CubeSats, clearing the way for a return-to-flight mission that could launch from Alaska this week. A launch attempt Monday was scrubbed due to bad weather.

U.S. military tracking radars confirmed claims from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Tuesday that the Iranian military placed a small satellite into orbit.

Six demonstration satellites for a future Chinese broadband internet mega-constellation launched March 5 on a Long March 2C rocket.