Embattled Astra scores DOD contract to develop point-to-point cargo delivery from space

Don’t count out Astra Space just yet. The company, which was taken private again earlier this year for a sliver of its former value, has landed a new contract with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to support the development of a next-gen launch system for time-sensitive space missions. 

The contract, which the DIU awarded under its Novel Responsive Space Delivery (NRSD) program, has a maximum value of $44 million. The money (however much of it is actually sent) will go toward the continued development of Astra’s Launch System 2, designed to perform rapid, ultra-low-cost launches. 

The new funding is a sign that not everyone has lost faith in Astra, a startup that went public in 2021 at a $2.1 billion valuation with lofty ambitions of mass producing small, cheap rockets capable of executing hundreds of missions per year. But the company burned through cash as it struggled to materialize those statements, notching several failed launches (and two successful ones) before announcing the pivot to the 600-kilogram payload capacity Rocket 4. 

The company spent a number of months searching — and failing to secure — enough financing to stay afloat on the public markets. The saga culminated in March when the company announced that the board had accepted an offer from co-founders Chris Kemp and Adam London to purchase the remaining Astra stock at a price of just $0.50 per share. Astra ceased trading on the Nasdaq in July. 

DIU was evidently swayed by Astra’s proposal, however, and the new contract could help see Rocket 4 reach orbit for the first time. The goal of that launch, according to a document released by DIU last summer, would be to demonstrate one or more of these capabilities: delivery through space from one orbit to another; an orbital return from space to a precise location on Earth; or through a specific orbit or trajectory in space. Solutions should be flight-ready within 24 months, the document states. 

Right now, Astra is in an initial phase of the contract to further refine its concept of operations, but if a prototype is selected, the company could progress to additional phases for one or more mission demonstrations. Later phases could include demonstrations with even larger payloads delivered with increased accuracy or trying to use the vehicle to support time-sensitive operations, like disaster response. 

DIU has already issued two awards under the NRSD program, to the Spaceport Company for its planned mobile sea-based launch platform, and to Stoke Space, which is also aiming to make point-to-point space cargo delivery a reality.