Astra, founded in 2016 in a San Francisco garage and now headquartered in Alameda, California, is a space launch and propulsion company. It achieved a notable early milestone by becoming the fastest private company in history to reach orbit, with its first test launch taking place in July 2018. The company's stated mission is to make space routine and reliable to improve life on Earth.
The company's technical work centers on rocket engineering, spacecraft propulsion, and mobile launch systems. Its primary products include Rocket 4.0, a responsive mobile launch vehicle designed to support a weekly launch cadence, and the Astra Spacecraft Engine, described as one of the industry's leading flight-proven electric propulsion systems.
Astra operates from Alameda, California, with global launch sites. The organization emphasizes a culture of small, empowered teams with direct ownership of their work. It values builders who ship, a fast pace, learning from failure, and tackling hard problems with the goal of achieving real impact.
