Firefly Alpha
ActiveFirefly Aerospace (FA)
Sept. 3, 2021
Description
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.
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
Commercial
CEO: Peter Schumacher
FA 2014Firefly Aerospace is an American private aerospace firm based in Austin, Texas, that develops small and medium-sized launch vehicles for commercial launches to orbit.
Upcoming Spaceflights
Firefly Alpha | Stairway to Seven
Firefly Aerospace | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
February 14, 2026
Status: To Be Confirmed
Mission:
Firefly Alpha's Flight 7 will be a test flight and return-To-Flight for the launch vehicle after its April 2025 launch failure. It will test and validate key systems ahead of Firefly’s Block II configuration upgrade on Flight 8 that’s designed to enhance reliability and manufacturability across the vehicle. Flight 7 will be the last flown in Alpha’s current configuration and will test multiple Block II subsystems, including the in-house avionics and thermal improvements, to gain flight heritage and validate lessons learned ahead of the full configuration upgrade on Flight 8.
Low Earth OrbitFirefly Alpha | FLTA006 (Message in a Booster)
Firefly Aerospace | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
April 29, 2025, 1:37 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:
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.
Low Earth OrbitFirefly Alpha | FLTA005 (Noise of Summer)
Firefly Aerospace | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
July 4, 2024, 4:04 a.m.
Firefly Alpha | FLTA004 (Fly the Lightning)
Firefly Aerospace | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Dec. 22, 2023, 5:32 p.m.
Status: Launch was a Partial Failure
Mission:
Firefly’s Alpha rocket will launch Lockheed Martin’s new wideband Electronically Steerable Antenna (ESA) technology integrated on a Terran Orbital Nebula satellite bus. Developed within Lockheed Martin Space’s Ignite organization using a proprietary design, the ESA payload will demonstrate faster on-orbit sensor calibration to deliver rapid capabilities to U.S. warfighters.
Low Earth Orbit
Firefly Alpha | FLTA003 (VICTUS NOX)
Firefly Aerospace | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Sept. 15, 2023, 2:28 a.m.
Firefly Alpha | FLTA002 (To The Black)
Firefly Aerospace | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Oct. 1, 2022, 7:01 a.m.
Firefly Alpha | FLTA001 (Maiden Flight)
Firefly Aerospace | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Sept. 3, 2021, 1:59 a.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:
First flight of the new Firefly Alpha small sat launcher developed by Firefly Aerospace. It will carry Firefly’s DREAM (Dedicated Research & Education Accelerator Mission), which includes various payloads like cubesats, personal items, pictures, DNA samples and more to inspire young people to pursue STEM education.
Low Earth OrbitFalcon 9
Starlink Group 17-33
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USAA batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Long March 2F/G
Chinese Reusable Space Vehicle
Launch Area 91 (SLS-1 / 921) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China4th flight of the Chinese spaceplane capable of returning to Earth.
Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Kosmos (Unknown Payload)
43/4 (43R) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian FederationUnknown classified payload(s) for the Russian military.
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 17-32
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USAA batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Long March 2C
AlSat 3B
Launch Area 94 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaEarth observation satellite built by China's CAST for the Algerian Space Agency.
