Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket returned to flight today (March 1) after a 10-month grounding, and you can watch it live.
As its name suggests, “Stairway to 7” will be the seventh ever launch for the 29.6-meter (96.7-foot) two-stage Alpha.
The 6th spacecraft, dubbed “Message in a Booster,” was launched on April 29 last year, carrying a prototype satellite from aerospace giant Lockheed Martin. However, things did not go as planned. Alpha’s first stage booster failed shortly after the stages separated, creating a pressure wave that affected the thrust of the upper stage. As a result, the upper stage ran out of propellant just before reaching its target deployment orbit. payload lost.
On August 26, the US Federal Aviation Administration cleared the Alpha aircraft to resume flying. But a month later, the booster was scheduled to fly on “Stairway to Number 7” exploded during test Work at Firefly’s facility in Briggs, Texas is causing further delays.
“Stairway to Seven” will not carry any operational payload. Rather, it will serve as a “test flight primarily aimed at achieving nominal stage 1 and stage 2 performance,” Firefly wrote. Mission description.
This is also the last flight of Alpha’s Block I configuration.
“Flight 7 will test and validate key systems in advance of Flight 8’s Firefly Block II configuration upgrade, which is designed to enhance overall vehicle reliability and manufacturability,” Firefly wrote in its mission description. “The Block II configuration includes a seven-foot increase in Alpha length, an integrated battery and avionics built in-house, an enhanced thermal protection system, and a stronger carbon composite structure built with automated machinery.”
“Stairway to Seven” launches the day before Firefly’s big anniversary. The company’s robotic lunar lander, Blue Ghost, will launch on March 2, 2025. landed on the moon. Blue Ghost worked nominally 2 weeks after that As planned, it became the first private spacecraft to complete a mission to the moon.