The U.S. Air Force’s first Super Strypi launch ended in failure on Nov. 4, 2015, when the experimental rocket spun out of control soon after leaving its rail at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii. The crash destroyed all 13 satellites aboard. A problem with the rocket’s first-stage motor was considered a likely cause.
Super Strypi was designed to provide a rapid-response option for sending small payloads into orbit. Its three stages used solid rocket motors, and the rocket was intended to carry payloads weighing up to 300 kilograms. The Air Force had planned to use it for launches tied to national security needs.
The main payload was ORS-4, also known as HiakaSat, built for the Air Force by engineers at the University of Hawaii. It was designed to collect images of Earth and monitor the environment over a year. The remaining 12 payloads included eight CubeSats for NASA’s Edison Demonstration of Smallsat Networks mission and four satellites for universities.
The failure marked the end of the Super Strypi effort: the Air Force did not launch another rocket of the type, and the program did not recover from the loss.
Sources: Space.com.