Due to massive layoffs, US rocket launch company Astra will postpone the test flight of the next generation of rockets.

CTOnews.com, August 6 (Xinhua)-- US rocket launch company Astra Space is expected to postpone the first test flight and launch of its next generation of rockets because it plans to lay off staff to cut costs and "give priority to other projects," Bloomberg reported on August 5.

Astra announced in a statement on Friday that it had cut about 25 per cent of its jobs since the start of the quarter, cutting 70 jobs on Aug. 4. Since then, the company has reassigned 50 engineers and manufacturing personnel from the launch service to a department designed to make spacecraft engines.

In March this year, Astra also announced that the first test flight of the next generation rocket would be completed by the end of this year, and the above twists and turns will delay the original process.

CTOnews.com previously reported that Astra announced in September 2022 that it would no longer launch the remaining TROPICS satellites for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), but would still launch other similar scientific missions for the agency.

In June 2022, Astra's first launch of the TROPICS (High time Resolution observation of precipitation structures and Storm intensity small Satellite Constellation) satellite failed because the engine of the second stage of its rocket was shut down prematurely before sending the payload into orbit.

According to Astra's plan, after no longer providing rockets for NASA, the company will develop a large carrier rocket codenamed "Rocket 4".