Tag: SLC-2W
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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: Vulcan launches USSF-87, SpaceX sends Crew-12 to ISS
The launch manifest is full this week, with eight launches scheduled from different launch sites worldwide. The week kicked off with a SpaceX Starlink mission on Wednesday, followed by a busy Thursday, during which five different rockets — including a Vulcan, a Proton, and the first Ariane 64 — launched. SpaceX and NASA are launching…
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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: China launches crew, Falcon 9 launches Bandwagon rideshare and 250th Starlink mission
This week, China has launched three taikonauts to the Tiangong space station. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 had four flights scheduled, with its third Bandwagon rideshare mission followed by three more Starlink missions, including its 250th dedicated Starlink flight. United Launch Alliance successfully launched its first batch of operational Kuiper satellites aboard an Atlas V 551 rocket.…
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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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Launch Roundup: Spectrum, Electron, and Falcon 9 fly missions
This week included three launches scheduled for Wednesday and the third Electron rocket to fly within 12 days. SpaceX kicked off the week with the launch of a classified mission on Monday. Two Starlink missions also flew alongside two others from China this week. Firefly Aerospace postponed the sixth flight of its Alpha rocket, following…
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Firefly successfully launched Alpha on Noise of Summer mission
After six months of preparation following its last flight, Firefly successfully launched the Alpha rocket on its fifth mission. After deciding to stand down from a July 2 launch attempt while teams evaluated and tested the systems responsible for aborting the launch on Monday, July 1, Firefly took off at 9:04 PM PDT on July…
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Firefly suffers second stage anomaly on “Fly the Lightning” mission
Just on the heels of its success in integrating and launching a payload to orbit within 27 hours for the Space Force, Firefly Aerospace flew again — this time with a dedicated flight for Lockheed Martin. The Alpha FLTA004 mission lifted off from Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W) at California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base…