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Firefly’s Alpha makes orbit on comeback flight, paving the way for a bigger Block II

1 min read
Source: Space
Firefly’s Alpha makes orbit on comeback flight, paving the way for a bigger Block II
Photo: Space
TL;DR

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket achieved orbit on its first launch since two 2025 mishaps, during the Stairway to Seven mission from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base. First-stage separation occurred at about 2 minutes 40 seconds, and the upper stage placed a Lockheed Martin demonstrator payload into orbit, marking a successful validation of systems ahead of Alpha’s Block II upgrade. The 2025 failures were traced to a hydrocarbon contamination caused by a stage-one integration process error, not a design flaw.

Topics:sciencespace-exploration#alpha-rocket#block-ii-upgrade#firefly-aerospace#space-exploration#stairway-to-seven#vandenberg-space-force-base
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  1. Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket reaches orbit on 1st launch since explosive accidents last year (video)  Space
  2. Firefly Aerospace Successfully Launches Alpha Flight 7  Firefly Aerospace
  3. Firefly Successfully Launches Rocket After September Explosion  Bloomberg.com
  4. Firefly Rocket Launch at Vandenberg Now Shooting for Wednesday  Noozhawk
  5. Firefly Alpha returns to flight  SpaceNews

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