Waiting To Launch

An Astra rocket waits on its launch pad in Kodiak, Alaska, on Feb. 29 as part of the DARPA Launch Challenge. That launch was scrubbed due to weather. A final attempt on March 2 was called off due to a last-minute technical issue. The program required competitors to launch two payloads from two different sites within two weeks. Despite the failure to launch, the program showed improvement over previous challenges, DARPA said. The U.S. government has long been a customer for the space...