spacetoday.net: First Super Strypi launch fails

Posted: Wed, Nov 4, 2015, 8:18 PM ET (0118 GMT)
Super Strypi on rail launcher (US Air Force)

The first launch of a Super Strypi rocket from Hawaii failed shortly after liftoff Tuesday. The small rail-guided rocket lifted off at 5:45 pm HST Tuesday (10:45 pm EST Tuesday, 0245 GMT Wednesday) from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai. Video of the launch showed the rocked beginning to spin and tumble before telemetry was lost less than a minute after liftoff. The Air Force confirmed that the rocket "failed in mid-flight" but offered no other details about the failure of the mission. The rocket, on a mission for the Operationally Responsive Space Office called ORS-4, was carrying a small satellite built by the University of Hawaii and 12 cubesats, including eight for NASA's small satellite technology program.