Firefly Alpha | FLTA006 (Message in a Booster)

Launch Failure

Problem during stage separation and second stage ignition caused disintegration of the separated 1st stage and the loss of the Lightning engine nozzle extension on the 2nd stage, substantially reducing the engine’s thrust. 2nd stage reached 320 km in altitude but did not reach orbital velocity, eventually impacted the Pacific Ocean north of Antarctica.

L - -- : -- : -- : --


Launch Window

April 29, 2025, 1:37 p.m. - April 29, 2025, 2:29 p.m.

Get it on Google Play Get it on App Store

Watch the Launch

FLTA006 (Message in a Booster)

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission: Technology

Low Earth Orbit Space Launch Complex 2W Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA Probability: 90%

Sixth flight of the Firefly Alpha small satellite launcher, launching the demonstration mission for Lockheed Martin's new LM400 satellite bus, which will carry a communications payload. The satellite bus is customizable to support different missions, including remote sensing, communications, imagery and radar Earth observations. It can also support different kinds of orbits and launch configurations.

Updates
Cosmic_Penguin • April 29, 2025, 6:12 p.m.

Launch failure confirmed.

Link https://x.com/Firefly_Space/status/1917279887955746991
hitura-nobad • April 29, 2025, 1:37 p.m.

Liftoff!

Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkusoizm-Zk
LL2 • April 29, 2025, 12:53 p.m.

Official Webcast by Firefly Aerospace has started

Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkusoizm-Zk
Cosmic_Penguin • April 29, 2025, 12:16 a.m.

Confirmed rescheduling to April 29.

Link https://x.com/Firefly_Space/status/1917010892803199377
Cosmic_Penguin • April 28, 2025, 2:16 p.m.

Scrubbed for the day.

Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4wYA10FzI8
Load More

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
    29.6 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

Alpha rocket suffers stage separation anomaly during launch of Lockheed tech demo satellite

A Firefly Alpha rocket left a Lockheed Martin satellite in an orbit lower than planned, or not in orbit at all, after an anomaly during launch April 29. The post Alpha rocket suffers stage separation anomaly during launch of Lockheed tech…

NASASpaceflight

Launch Roundup: Starlink missions fill launch manifest, Biomass and Alpha launch

This week’s schedule includes up to six Starlink launches from Florida and California. Arianespace launched… The post Launch Roundup: Starlink missions fill launch manifest, Biomass and Alpha launch appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Spaceflight Now

Firefly Aerospace to launch Lockheed Martin LM400 tech demo satellite on Alpha rocket from Vandenberg

The mission comes after a delay of more than a month due to poor weather, followed by the NRO taking priority on the Western Range. Liftoff is targeting the opening of a roughly one-hour window that begins at 6:37 a.m. PDT (9:37 a.m. EDT, …

NASASpaceflight

Firefly Alpha set to launch FLTA006 Message In A Booster mission

Firefly Aerospace is preparing its Alpha small satellite launcher for a flight from Vandenberg Space… The post Firefly Alpha set to launch FLTA006 Message In A Booster mission appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

NASASpaceflight

Launch Roundup: China to launch crew, Falcon 9 to launch Bandwagon rideshare

This week, China will launch three taikonauts to the Tiangong space station. SpaceX’s Falcon 9… The post Launch Roundup: China to launch crew, Falcon 9 to launch Bandwagon rideshare appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Space Launch Complex 2W

Recent Launches
Falcon 9
Success
1 day, 2 hours ago
Starlink Group 17-13
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.

Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 17 hours ago
Crew-12
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

SpaceX Crew-12 is the twelfth crewed operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial C…

Ariane 64
Success
3 days, 11 hours ago
Amazon Leo (LE-01)
Ariane Launch Area 4 - Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit that will offer broadband internet access, thi…

Vulcan VC4S
Success
3 days, 18 hours ago
USSF-87
Space Launch Complex 41 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

USSF-87 will launch two identical Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites GSSAP-7 and GSSAP-8 directly to a near-geosyn…

Proton-M
Success
3 days, 19 hours ago
Elektro-L No.5
81/24 (81P) - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Elektro-L is a series of meteorological satellites developed for the Russian Federal Space Agency by NPO Lavochkin. They are designed to capture real…

Smart Dragon 3
Success
3 days, 21 hours ago
PRSC-EO2 & 6 satellites
South China Sea (launch location 3) - Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

Carried 7 satellites to sun-synchronous orbit, including PRSC-EO2 (Earth observation satellite for the Pakistan government's SUPARCO) & CUHK-1. Detai…

Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 10 hours ago
Starlink Group 17-34
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.

Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 1 day ago
Starlink Group 17-33
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.

Long March 2F/G
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Chinese Reusable Space Vehicle
Launch Area 91 (SLS-1 / 921) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

4th flight of the Chinese spaceplane capable of returning to Earth.

Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Success
1 week, 3 days ago
Kosmos (Unknown Payload)
43/4 (43R) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Unknown classified payload(s) for the Russian military.

Get it on Google Play
Get it on the App Store