Rocket Report: Astra nearing first launch, Starship may soon roll to pad

Enlarge / The Electron launch vehicle is ready to soar. (credit: Rocket Lab)

Welcome to Edition 2.33 of the Rocket Report! There is a lot of exciting news this week, both with very small rockets as well as SpaceX's Starship getting closer to launch. In fact, Astra may launch as early as next Tuesday.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Rocket Lab nabs lunar mission. For a fixed price contract worth $9.95 million, Rocket Lab has reached a deal with NASA to launch the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment CubeSat to the Moon. This CAPSTONE mission is targeted for launch in early 2021. "This mission is all about quickly and more affordably demonstrating new capabilities, and we are partnering with small businesses to do it," said Christopher Baker, a NASA official.

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