Investing.com – Astra Space stock (NASDAQ:ASTR) plummeted 25% in Monday’s premarket trading two days after the company’s rocket failed to reach the orbit and had to be terminated in less than two-and-a-half minutes of its launch.
“Reviewing flight data and video, two things are very clear - 1) An engine shut down right after launch 2) Everything that happened next made me incredibly proud of our team. Space may be hard, but like this rocket, we are not giving up,” Astra Chief Executive Officer Chris Kemp tweeted.
This was Astra’s third attempt at putting a rocket in the orbit, none of which has successfully reached orbit.
Something appeared to go wrong right at the start, as Launch Vehicle 0006 lurched sideways at the liftoff, instead of smoothly taking off the pad. The rocket managed to recover on its own as it soared.
The flight safety crew had to purposely stall the engines after a piece of the rocket appeared to break off. The rocket had travelled 31 miles before returning to Earth.