Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

A Year After a Failed Launch, Firefly Reaches Orbit and Deploys Satellites

Alpha FLTA002 mission successfully reached orbit but not so successfully deployed customer payloads. It lifted off on October 1, 2022 at 12:01am PST from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Credit: Firefly Aerospace.

Edited on 10/6/22 to add new information from Seradata.

Commercial space company Firefly Aerospace successfully launched its Alpha rocket for the first time last weekend, reaching orbit and deploying three satellites. While the latest determination of the satellites’ orbit reveals they may have not been placed in the correct orbit, the company appears to consider the orbit high enough to be considered a success. But others might not agree.

This launch comes just over a year after the Alpha rocket’s first launch attempt exploded two and a half minutes after liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Continue reading “A Year After a Failed Launch, Firefly Reaches Orbit and Deploys Satellites”
Posted on by Andy Tomaswick

Space Continues to be Hard. Firefly’s Alpha Rocket Detonates Shortly After Launch

Rocket science is hard.  So far, no commercial rocket launch company has ever successfully gotten to orbit on the first try.  The first flight of Firefly‘s Alpha rocket prototype did not break that streak last week when it exploded two and a half minutes after takeoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base.  

Continue reading “Space Continues to be Hard. Firefly’s Alpha Rocket Detonates Shortly After Launch”