Why This Rocket Went Sideways Off The Launch Pad

Astra is a rocket builder that is aiming to handle the smallest payloads with their tiny launch vehicle which weighs less than 10 tons. Over the last few years they've got progressively closer to demonstrating an orbital launch capability. They'd been very secretive up to this point and this was the first live stream of one of their launches.

However things didn't go according to plan and the rocket took a bizarre trajectory off the launch pad, slipping sideways before starting to rise, ultimately reaching almost 50 kilometers before falling back into the Pacific ocean.

https://astra.com/

The launch footage was produced in collaboration with NasaSpaceFlight
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/