SpaceX competitor Firefly Aerospace suffered a major setback Tuesday as its sixth Alpha rocket launch ended in failure, with the rocket and payload plunging into the Pacific Ocean. This is the fourth failure in six Alpha launches by Firefly.
Space.com reports that the Texas-based aerospace company experienced an anomaly during the flight of its 95-foot-tall Alpha rocket, which lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 10:01 a.m. PDT. The two-stage rocket was carrying a technology demonstration satellite for Lockheed Martin.
According to Firefly, the issue occurred shortly after stage separation, about two and a half minutes into the flight. The upper stage’s single Lightning engine lost its nozzle extension, causing a significant reduction in thrust. While the upper stage managed to reach an altitude of 199 miles, it failed to achieve the velocity necessary to enter a stable orbit. The failure can be seen in Firefly’s video of the launch, beginning roughly 47 minutes and 20 seconds into the livestream.
“Initial indications showed Alpha’s upper stage reached 320 km in altitude,” Firefly stated in a post-launch update. “However, upon further assessment, the team learned the upper stage did not reach orbital velocity, and the stage and payload have now safely impacted the Pacific Ocean in a cleared zone north of Antarctica.”
The ill-fated mission, dubbed “Message in a Booster,” was the first of up to 25 launches Firefly plans to conduct for Lockheed Martin over the next five years. The lost payload was a satellite technology demonstrator designed to showcase Lockheed Martin’s LM 400 bus, a versatile platform for mid-sized satellites.
“Firefly recognizes the hard work that went into payload development and would like to thank our mission partners at Lockheed Martin for their continued support,” the company said. “The team is working closely with our customers and the FAA to conduct an investigation and determine root cause of the anomaly.”
This marks the fourth failure in six launches for Firefly’s Alpha rocket, which is designed to deliver small to medium-sized payloads of up to 2,270 pounds to low Earth orbit. The rocket made its debut in September 2021, but only two of its six flights to date have been fully successful.
Today’s launch attempt was part of a remarkably busy period for the commercial space industry, with six rockets launching within a 17.5-hour window. Four of those missions deployed broadband satellites for various low-Earth orbit megaconstellations, while the European Space Agency’s Biomass forest-monitoring satellite also reached orbit.
As the investigation into the anomaly begins, Firefly will work closely with the FAA and its customers to determine the best path forward. With a backlog of missions for Lockheed Martin and other clients, the pressure is on for Firefly to quickly rectify the issue and return Alpha to flight.
Read more at Space.com here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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