Just before the Christmas weekend Firefly launched its fourth Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. While the booster and first burn of the second stage perform normally, the second burn failed to place Lockheed Martin‘s tech demonstrator into its intended orbit.
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We’re coming up on one year since we’ve last seen Firefly launch its Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base. That wait will soon be over as the company announced it’s currently waiting on word from the US Space Force for its third launch, sometime within the next six months.
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Firefly Aerospace has released an update video after a prolonged period of silence. Both the first and second stages for their Flight 2 vehicle have passed acceptance testing. There is no launch date currently.
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Just 3 days after their first launch, Firefly Aerospace provides some insight into what occurred during the first stage boost phase. Along with the statement was a video showcasing some different angles of Firefly’s first Alpha launch and tracking footage.
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Thursday afternoon Firefly Aerospace attempted to launch their first Alpha rocket. Firefly’s first Alpha rocket, while the liftoff was nominal, suffered a failure a few minutes into launch.
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Firefly is working towards the first launch of their Alpha rocket, as well as the company’s first launch at all. While this is a test flight FireFly will have real payloads on board this rocket. The smallsats come from a variety of education and research programs that competed for a free spot on the maiden flight. The goal of this mission is to validate the design of the Alpha rocket and its subsystems.
Date: Thursday, September 2nd, 9:59 p.m. (Window closes September 3rd at 12:00 a.m. EDT)
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Just on the edge of their first launch, Firefly finally conducts a static fire on their Alpha rocket out in Vandenberg Space Force Base.
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On April 12th, Firefly Aerospace shared photos of their first Alpha rocket going vertical on the launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force base, and today they shared a timelapse of the lift.
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Firefly Aerospace is nearing its inaugural flight. Firefly’s first Alpha rocket, which arrived at Vandenberg in November, is now vertical on the launch in preparation for a static fire and launch.
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