ASTRAL is a 6 letter word that starts with A.

1. \As"tral\, a. [L. astralis, fr. astrum star, Gr. ?: cf.
   F. astral. See {Star}.]
   Pertaining to, coming from, or resembling, the stars; starry;
   starlike.
         Shines only with an astral luster.       --I. Taylor.
         Some astral forms I must invoke by prayer. --Dryden.
   {Astral lamp}, an Argand lamp so constructed that no shadow
      is cast upon the table by the flattened ring-shaped
      reservoir in which the oil is contained.
   {Astral spirits}, spirits formerly supposed to live in the
      heavenly bodies or the a["e]rial regions, and represented
      in the Middle Ages as fallen angels, spirits of the dead,
      or spirits originating in fire.
   

2. \As"tral\, a.
   1. (Biol.) Of or pertaining to an aster; as, astral rays;
      astral sphere.
   2. (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a
      kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above
      the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits;
      astral bodies of persons; astral current.
   

A programming language based on pascal, never implemented.

["ASTRAL: A Structured and Unified Approach to Database Design and Manipulation", T. Amble et al, in Proc of the Database Architecture Conf, Venice, June 1979].