Astra's 1st orbital launch attempt scuttled by wayward boat - Space.com

Astra was poised to send a rocket to Earth orbit for the first time ever last night (Aug. 2) — until a boat got in the way.

The California-based startup had to call off the launch of its Rocket 3.1 booster from the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Alaska's Kodiak Island for safety reasons after a ship wandered into downrange waters.

"Boat could not be cleared in time for us to launch within the window (ends at 9 p.m. PT), and we have to unfortunately scrub for today," Astra representatives tweeted last night. .

(The launch won't be webcast live, but you can get updates via Astra's Twitter feed.) .

The more we accomplish, the more we learn, and the closer we are to reaching orbit.".

Astra had originally hoped to get to orbit for the first time in early March, as part of the DARPA Launch Challenge.

And the booster slated to make that flight, Rocket 3.0, was damaged during preparations for another test flight in late March, delaying the launch attempt until now.

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