Tag: FireFly
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Launch Preview: Falcon 9 to dominate another busy week of missions
Eight launches are scheduled worldwide this week, with Falcon 9 again dominating the launch schedule. SpaceX is set to launch a communications satellite and Starlink satellites this week from its Florida and California launch facilities. Meanwhile, Firefly Aerospace was set to launch its Alpha rocket from California on Tuesday, before scrubbing. Internationally, China is scheduled…
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Firefly Alpha FLTA007 “Stairway to Seven” launches successfully
Firefly Aerospace returned its Alpha launch vehicle to flight after a nearly 10-month stand down following the failed FLTA006 “Message In A Booster” mission in April 2025. FLTA007 “Stairway to Seven” launched from the California coast at 5:50 PM PDT on Wednesday, March 11 (00:50 UTC on March 12) after being delayed again on Monday,…
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Launch Preview: Falcon 9 to launch five Starlink missions, Firefly to launch Alpha
Seven missions are on this week’s launch manifest, with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 dominating the schedule. Falcon 9 is expected to launch five Starlink missions from SpaceX’s launch sites in Florida and California. Meanwhile, Rocket Lab’s suborbital HASTE rocket will launch a hypersonic test vehicle for Hypersonix from Virginia, and Firefly will return its Alpha vehicle…
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Launch Preview: Firefly to launch Alpha, SpaceX to launch three Starlink missions
After a brief grounding earlier this month following the Starlink Group 17-32 second stage deorbit anomaly, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 returns to a regular cadence of flights with three Starlink missions this week. However, SpaceX is not the only U.S. launch provider flying this week, as Firefly Space is returning its Alpha to flight following the…
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Firefly advances production of Eclipse and Blue Ghost, announces Ocula imaging service
Firefly Aerospace is continuing to make good progress toward the debut of the company’s next-generation launch vehicle, Eclipse, in partnership with Northrop Grumman. Formerly known as MLV, or Medium Launch Vehicle, Firefly and Northrop Grumman announced the rocket’s new name on May 29. Firefly also announced Ocula, a new commercial lunar imaging service that will…
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Launch Roundup: Starlink missions fill launch manifest, Biomass and Alpha launch
JThis week’s schedule included up to six Starlink launches from Florida and California, but poor weather meant only four flew. Arianespace launched the Biomass satellite aboard a Vega C from Kourou, and Firefly Aerospace attempted to launch its first Alpha rocket of the year. SpaceX has already launched 50 times this year and celebrated its…
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Firefly Alpha launches FLTA006 Message In A Booster mission but fails to reach orbit
Firefly Aerospace launched its Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, but the mission failed to reach orbit. The Alpha FLTA006 mission, named “Message In A Booster,” launched on Tuesday, April 29, at 6:37 AM PDT (13:37 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W) during a 52-minute launch window. The attempt was…
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Launch Roundup: Alpha postponed, Falcon 9 launches cargo to ISS
This week has seen the worldwide launch cadence slow, with only four launches taking place. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has launched just twice, with a mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office and a Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station. Moreover, a Minotaur rocket has launched another classified reconnaissance payload from Vandenberg, and…
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Firefly offers insight on MLV testing, reusability plans
As Firefly Aerospace prepares for its upcoming Alpha rocket launches, work continues apace on its next-generation Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) rocket with its Miranda and Vira engines, utilizing its Briggs test site in Texas. MLV’s Chief Engineer, Miles Gray, showed NSF around the test site to update the status of the new vehicle and engines…
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Falcon 9’s return to flight reminds spaceflight industry of past anomalies
Nearly every rocket that has flown has had an anomaly. With thousands of components that all need to work in perfect harmony to have a successful mission, there is likely to be one component that is unable to perform every once in a while. While witnessing an anomaly in spaceflight is not as improbable as…