Watch the Launch

Additional Media

Noise of Summer

Alpha FLTA005 will launch eight CubeSats in support of Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demo 2 contract with NASA.

FLTA005 (Noise of Summer)

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Mission: Technology

Sun-Synchronous Orbit Space Launch Complex 2W Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Fifth flight of the Firefly Alpha small sat launcher, carrying eight cubesats for NASA's ELaNa 43 (Educational Launch of a Nanosatellite) mission.

Telemetry

Launch trajectory and telemetry simulations provided by Flight Club - a rocket launch simulator and orbital trajectory visualiser for all things space!

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • July 4, 2024, 6:16 a.m.

Launch success with all payloads deployed.


Cosmic_Penguin • July 4, 2024, 4:04 a.m.

Liftoff.


LL2 • July 4, 2024, 3:31 a.m.

Official Webcast by Firefly Aerospace has started


Cosmic_Penguin • July 3, 2024, 11:49 p.m.

GO for launch.


Cosmic_Penguin • July 3, 2024, 4:17 a.m.

NET July 4 UTC.


Firefly Alpha

Family:
Configuration:

Firefly Alpha (Firefly α) is a two-stage orbital expendable launch vehicle developed by the American aerospace company Firefly Aerospace to cover the commercial small satellite launch market. Alpha is intended to provide launch options for both full vehicle and ride share customers.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    29.0 m
  • Diameter
    1.82 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    2.21 m
  • Launch Mass
    54.0 T
  • Thrust
    736.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Firefly Alpha
  • Family
  • Variant
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Firefly Alpha
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $15000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    1000.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    630.0 kg

Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace

(FA)

CEO: Peter Schumacher Founded: 2014 Successes: 3 Failures: 3 Pending: 5

Agency Type:

Firefly Aerospace is an American private aerospace firm based in Austin, Texas, that develops small and medium-sized launch vehicles for commercial launches to orbit.

INFO WIKI

Related News

SpaceNews

Firefly Aerospace launches NASA-sponsored cubesats

Firefly Aerospace placed eight cubesats into orbit on a mission funded by NASA on the first flight of the company’s Alpha rocket since an upper stage malfunction more than half a year ago.

NASA

Eight CubeSats Lift Off for NASA on Firefly Aerospace Rocket!

As part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, Firefly Aerospace launched eight small satellites on July 3 aboard the company’s Alpha rocket. Named “Noise of Summer,” the rocket successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenbe…

NASASpaceflight

Firefly set to launch Alpha on Noise of Summer mission

After six months of preparation following its last flight, Firefly is ready to launch the Alpha rocket on its fifth mission no earlier than Tuesday, July 2, at 9:03 AM PDT (16:03 UTC). This mission, named Noise of Summer, is to launch eigh…

Spaceflight Now

Firefly puts Alpha rocket NASA mission on hold to study data

Firefly made two launch attempts on Monday night, but had to ultimately scrub the mission due to a "ground support issue." Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 2 (SLC-2) at Vandenberg Space Force Base is set for no earlier than July 2 at 9:03…

NASASpaceflight

Launch Roundup: Falcon Heavy returns with GOES-U, Firefly launches an Alpha

Following a week in which Tropical Storm Alberto brought high seas, wind, and rain-related delays to the launch schedule in Florida, SpaceX hopes to get back on track this week with launches planned for all three of the active Falcon launc…

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Space Launch Complex 2W


Soyuz 2.1a
Success
1 day, 21 hours ago
Obzor-R No.1
43/4 (43R) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Assignment of payloads to this launch is uncertain. The Russian Obzor-R satellite is a planned X-band radar earth observation satellite desi…


LVM-3 (GSLV Mk III)
Success
3 days, 8 hours ago
BlueBird Block 2 #1
Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India

AST SpaceMobile’s Block 2 BlueBird satellites are designed to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird Block 1 satellites, requi…


Long March 12A
Success
4 days, 10 hours ago
Demo Flight
Long March 12A Pad - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

First test launch of CASC/SAST’s Long March 12A rocket, with a dummy payload. The rocket’s 1st stage attempted to land on a landing pad about 300 km …


HANBIT-Nano
Failure
4 days, 10 hours ago
Spaceward
HANBIT Pad - Alcântara Space Center, Federative Republic of Brazil

Maiden orbital launch attempt for the South Korean start-up Innospace and its HANBIT-Nano small launch vehicle. Onboard this flight are five small sa…


H3-22
Failure
5 days, 10 hours ago
Michibiki 5 (QZS-5)
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2 - Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

QZSS (Quasi Zenith Satellite System) is a Japanese satellite navigation system operating from inclined, elliptical geosynchronous orbits to achieve o…


Electron
Success
6 days, 5 hours ago
The Wisdom God Guides (iQPS Launch 6)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company iQPS.


New Shepard
Success
6 days, 21 hours ago
NS-37
West Texas Suborbital Launch Site/ Corn Ranch - Corn Ranch, Van Horn, TX, USA

NS-37 is the 16th crewed flight for the New Shepard program and the 37th in the New Shepard program's history.


Long March 5
Success
6 days, 23 hours ago
TJSW-23
101 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.


Electron
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Don't Be Such A Square (STP-S30)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C) - Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

STP-S30 is a complex mission that will deliver research experiments and technology demonstrations to orbit for the DoD and contribute to future space…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Starlink Group 15-13
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.