Texas-based
Firefly Aerospace, a leading space and defence technology company, yesterday announced the successful launch of its Alpha Flight 7 Stairway to Seven mission. Alpha lifted off from Firefly’s Space Launch Complex 2 at the Vandenberg Space Force Base before completing an orbital insertion and delivering a demonstrator payload for
Lockheed Martin.
Firefly’s Alpha rocket also performed a stage two engine relight and validated key Alpha Block II upgrades, including a new in-house avionics suite and enhanced thermal protection system, ahead of the full Block II configuration upgrade planned for Flight 8.
Jason Kim, Firefly Aerospace’s CEO, said: “Alpha Flight 7 was flawlessly executed with all mission requirements completed, further proving the resiliency, innovation, and passion of the Firefly team,. Over the last several months, we took a hard look at our processes across engineering, production, test, integration, and operations and invested the time required to make a series of improvements to ensure a higher level of quality and reliability in every Alpha we deliver and launch as we move to our Block II upgrade.”
Focus now on Alpha Flight 8The Firefly team is now working to complete the final milestones for Alpha Flight 8 that is set to launch the full Block II configuration upgrade designed to enhance reliability and manufacturability across the vehicle. The upgrades include a 7ft increase to Alpha’s length, consolidated batteries and avionics built in house, improved thermal protection system, and stronger carbon composite structures built with automated machinery.
Adam Oakes, Firefly Aerospace’s vice president of launch, concluded: “Flight 7 served as a critical opportunity to validate Alpha’s performance ahead of our Block II upgrade, and this team knocked it out of the park. I am incredibly proud of the Firefly team for continuing to define perseverance. We have full confidence in our Alpha rocket, and we are committed to continuous improvement as we roll out Block II. We want to thank Space Launch Delta 30 [one of two space launch wings for the US Space Force] and our customers for their ongoing collaboration and support.”