NASA-Funded Satellites Lost in Setback for Astra, a Small Rocket Launch Start-Up

The mission’s failure to reach orbit highlighted the challenges of breaking into the space business, especially for companies that are publicly traded on the stock market.

Four tiny NASA-funded satellites were lost on their way to space on Thursday after launching atop a rocket built by Astra Space, a small, publicly traded rocket start-up based in Alameda, Calif.

The satellites were small experimental devices called cubesats, and their loss may set back the research projects of the institutions that built them. But for Astra, the setback could be more significant. A successful flight on Thursday would have helped it step further into a growing cadre of launch start-ups jockeying to offer cheaper methods of lofting objects into space. And the company’s latest launch failure shows how difficult it is to join the club.

The company’s 3.3 rocket lifted off from a launchpad from Cape Canaveral, Fla., at 3 p.m. Eastern time, sparking cheers from a crowd of Astra employees streamed on a live video. But a few minutes after launch, as the rocket’s second stage booster was to break off for its trip deeper into orbit, onboard cameras showed the booster tumbling out of control.