Good buying opportunityHoping to chalk up the company's second successful flight, California-based Astra fired off a 43-foot-tall rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Thursday, but the vehicle's upper stage appeared to tumble out of control moments after engine ignition. The rocket's payload — four small NASA- and university-provided research satellites booked under a $3.9 million contract through the space agency's Venture Class Launch Services program — was lost in the mishap.
Sounds bad, and down went the stock price, Astra has a great management team that will find the problem by looking at the telemetry. The first stage worked perfectly. New rocket designs always have problems that have to be worked out. Astra will do it and the price will rise.
And this is a great company.
In the future, looking back, people will say, "Why didn't I buy it then?"