Astra to loft 1st mission for DARPA Launch Challenge today: Here's how to watch live

By Mike Wall 4 hours ago

Liftoff is targeted for 3:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT).

The formerly stealthy startup Astra aims to win $2 million with its first-ever orbital launch today (Feb. 29), and you can watch the liftoff live.

Astra's Rocket 3.0 is scheduled to lift off today from the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak Island, Alaska, during a three-hour window that opens at 3:30 p.m. EST (2030 GMT). You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), or directly via DARPA.

DARPA is streaming the event because the liftoff is part of the DARPA Launch Challenge, an effort to spur the development of private American rockets capable of lofting small military satellites cheaply and on short notice.

If Astra aces today's launch, the California-based company gets $2 million. If it succeeds in a second launch from a different pad at the Pacific Spaceport Complex by March 18, another $10 million will come Astra's way.

Astra was founded in 2016 but just came out of stealth mode earlier this month. The company has conducted extensive testing at its Bay Area facilities but has not yet attempted an orbital launch, so success today is far from guaranteed.

Still, operational satellites are aboard the two-stage, 38-foot-long (11.6 meters) Rocket 3.0 for today's flight. The payloads are a Department of Defense communications cubesat called Prometheus; two other cubesats provided by the University of South Florida, which aim to demonstrate new communications tech; and a space traffic management beacon built by Virginia-based company Tiger Innovations.

These payloads weren't disclosed to Astra until Jan. 22. Keeping the company in the dark for so long is part of the DARPA Launch Challenge, which rewards flexibility and adaptability.

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