Failure
FLTA001 (Maiden Flight)
Test Flight
Firefly Aerospace(FA)CommercialFirefly Alpha
LEOorbit
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.
Friday, September 3, 2021 at 1:59 AM
Replay
Status Details
Failure Reason
The launch vehicle was destroyed after reaching Max-Q, exact reason unknown yet.
Mission details
Orbital Attempt
#6,122
FA Mission
#1
Pad Launch
#93
Location Launch
#689
Weather GO
100%
Launch Window
NET
Sep 3, 2021, 1:59 AM
Schedule Changes
1 update
Lift Off
1:00 AM
Window Open
5:00 AM
Window Close
Firefly Alpha Specs
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.
Length
29.6 m
Diameter
1.82 m
Launch Mass
54 t
Thrust
736 kN
LEO Capacity
1,000 kg
SSO Capacity
630 kg
Launch Cost
$15M
Reusable
No
Maiden Flight
2021
Fastest Turnaround
3mo 8d
Total Launches
7
Successful
4
Failed
3
Consecutive Success
1
Maiden flight: Sep 3, 2021
Social Flight Log
- Sep 3, 2021, 2:05 AM
The launch vehicle was destroyed after reaching Max-Q, exact reason unknown yet.
- Sep 2, 2021, 1:49 PM
Weather 100%
Source - Aug 27, 2021, 10:26 PM
Launch window announced via EDA.
Source - Aug 19, 2021, 7:30 PM
Launch is NET Sep 2.
Source - May 4, 2021, 1:40 PM
Launch is NET mid-June.
Source - Jan 29, 2021, 7:38 PM
NET March 14th
Source - Nov 27, 2020, 6:09 PM
Launch is NET January 2021
Source
Firefly Aerospace
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.
Founded
2014
Administrator
CEO: Peter Schumacher
Total Launches
7
Successful
4
Failed
3
Pending
4
Consecutive Success
1
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Vandenberg Space Force Base is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from the Western Range, and also performs missile testing. The United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 30 serves as the host delta for the base, equivalent to an Air Force air base wing. In addition to its military space launch mission, Vandenberg Space Force Base also hosts space launches for civil and commercial space entities, such as NASA and SpaceX.
Timezone
America/Los_Angeles
Local Launch Time
Sep 2, 2021, 6:59 PM
Total Launches
885
Total Landings
34
Coordinates
34.7513, -120.5202