Astra ASTR shares fall after the failure of the company’s rocket launch

Shares of rocket builder Astra fell sharply on Monday after the company’s launch attempt over the weekend failed after a take-off problem.

The company’s LV0006 rocket tilted and slid sideways a moment after taking off from the ground in Alaska, which Chris Kemp, Astra’s CEO, told CNBC had stopped one of its five engines. The rocket did not crash immediately, recovered from the problem and continued to accelerate for more than two minutes.

However, the rocket was not running and the launch security team shut down the remaining engines of the rocket and terminated the flight. LV0006 reached an altitude of about 164,000 feet (or 50 kilometers), and Astra does not yet have a successful rocket to reach orbit.

Astra is investigating the cause of the problem, with Kemp saying the company collected “a huge amount of flight data and [is] under review “.

Astra shares fell as much as 22% in trading from their previous close of $ 11.67.

The launch of LV0006 was Astra’s first commercial mission, with the United States Space Force contracting the launch to test a payload as part of its space testing program.

The vehicle is 43 meters high and adapts to the small rocket segment of the launch market. Astra’s goal is to finally launch as many small rockets as it can, with the goal of launching one rocket a day in 2025 and further reducing its price by $ 2.5 million.

Astra does not yet have a timeline for its next launch attempt, but Kemp said its LV0007 rocket is in production and will incorporate the necessary changes.

The launch of LV0006 was Astra’s first since the company went public on July 1 after closing a SPAC deal.

– CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.