On April 29, 2025, a Firefly Alpha rocket lifted from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, carrying the first of twenty-five payloads for Lockheed Martin in Low Earth Orbit. Alpha cleared the pad at 12.37 UTC, setting off mission FLTA006, named Message in a Booster.
After a nominal ascent, problems began during the stage separation phase. In the ground-based tracking camera footage of the rocket during Firefly’s flight broadcast, it is evident that the event was more chaotic than expected, with a large amount of debris scattered after Main Engine Cutoff (MECO).
The livestream then switched to the second stage’s onboard camera, revealing the complete absence of the engine bell, even though the engine was firing. For several seconds, the stage appeared to be out of control before stabilizing.
It is currently unclear whether Alpha completed the mission. Shortly after the flight, Firefly initially stated that the vehicle had been inserted into a lower-than-expected orbit, but later revised the statement, reporting only that the company is working with Lockheed Martin and the FAA to investigate what happened.
Following a nominal liftoff of Firefly’s Alpha rocket, there was a mishap during first stage separation for the FLTA006 mission that impacted the Stage 2 Lightning engine nozzle. We are working with our Lockheed Martin customer, the Space Force, and FAA to conduct a thorough…
— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) April 29, 2025
The mission aimed at demonstrating the readiness of Lockheed Martin’s LM 400 satellite bus, capable of serving military, commercial, or civil customers. The platform is developed to host a variety of missions, including remote sensing, communications, imaging, and radar.
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Rapid response launch mission, a new space capability
In October 2022, Firefly was awarded a contract by the U.S. Space Force to build the capability of deploying a satellite into a planned orbit with a notice of only 24 hours. The company worked hard for eleven months to improve its Alpha rocket operations, and on September 13, 2023, the call to launch from USSF arrived.
After only 27 hours, the Alpha rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, delivering the required payload into orbit. The rapid response launch mission, Victus Nox, was a success on the first try.
With this major achievement, Firefly demonstrated for the first time that launch operations could be compressed to reach the goal required by the USSF to react to an eventual critical situation, like a national security threat.
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A future full of missions
Thanks to this new unique capability, Firefly closed several contracts to launch payloads with the Alpha rocket. One of them is the abovementioned agreement signed with Lockheed Martin for fifteen launch reservations and ten optional missions, with FLTA006 being the first of the series. Even the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) chose Firefly Alpha for its Streamlined Launch Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Contract (SLIC), over a 10-year ordering period worth $700 million.
The last contract signed by Firefly qualifies the company as a vendor for the U.S. Department of Defense’s Space Development Agency (SDA) Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated LEO (HALO) program. Under the agreement, the company will be eligible to deliver rapid deployment missions for SDA’s military satellites using Elytra, its orbital transfer vehicle. The spacecraft could be launched into orbit on Firefly Alpha, the company’s future Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV), or a third-party vehicle as part of a rideshare mission.
As stated on the company’s website, Elytra will fly for the first time in 2025, to demonstrate its responsiveness on-orbit capabilities. Its first mission, Elytra Mission 1, will be a rideshare mission launched by the Alpha rocket. It will deploy commercial payloads in Sun-Synchronous Orbit and then stay in space, ready to release NRO payloads on demand.
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