April 30 (UPI) – A Firefly Aerospace Rocket launched from California crashed in the Pacific Ocean north of Antarctica and failed to enter Lockheed Martin's satellite.
This is the failure of Alpha Rocket, a Texas-based private company. It has had two successes, two failures and two partial failures since its debut in September 2021.
This task is called “the task in the booster.”
On a foggy morning, two stages, the 96.7-foot Alpha was life from Vandenberg Space Force at 6:37 a.m. Tuesday and reached 198.8 miles in space.
According to ARS Technica, after separation from the next stage, the upper engine continued to fire for more than six minutes. After the stage was closed, Fireflies announced that the rocket had arrived in orbit.
Entering the mission for 13 minutes, the rocket was programmed to release its individual payload
At this point, Firefly ended its real-time network broadcast.
After Alpha splits two stages, Alpha has a problem. Nozzles extracted from a single lightning engine on the stage.
The private company published the private company in X 90 minutes after the lift, “the initial signs indicate that the Alpha's height on stage reached 320 km.” However, after further evaluation, the team learned that the previous phase did not reach orbital velocity, and that the phase and payload have now safely affected the Pacific Ocean in the clearance area north of the Antarctic. ”
Firefly Aeospase is conducting an investigation with Lockheed Martin, the Space Force and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Because of “the issue released due to ground support equipment issues” was one day later than the original one.
The mission was originally scheduled for mid-March but was delayed due to the lack of range availability at its launch site at the Vandenberg Space Force Base.
“Firefly recognizes the hard work done in payload development and would like to thank our mission partners at Lockheed Martin for their ongoing support,” the company said in a statement. “The team is working closely with our clients and the FAA to investigate and identify the root cause of the anomalies.”
The task comes with a LM 400 technology demonstration by Lockheed Martin. It is designed to test its functionality on track with SmartSat software.
Firefly's Rocket is designed to provide low-cost rides for medium-sized satellites, with a payload of up to 2,866 pounds per launch.
Alpha flta006 is the second mission for Lockheed Martin, Firefly, and the first of 25 planned tasks planned for the next five years.
In September 2021, one of Alpha's four Phase 1 Raider engines unexpectedly shut down about 15 seconds after launch.
Then in October 2022, even if the rocket transports two satellites to a lower orbit than planned, Alpha's inaugural mission is considered a success
In September 2023, Alpha achieved its first success as its payload entered the U.S. government’s space system order.
In December 2023, Alpha put the Lockheed Martin satellite in the wrong orbit after experiencing anomalies in the second phase.
In July 2024, Alpha successfully launched eight cubes for NASA.
Lockheed's next firearm aerospace flight is scheduled for the second quarter of 2025.
Alpha is produced and tested at the Texas Rocket Ranch in Firefly, Briggs, Texas, 50 miles north of Austin.
Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost completed its successful commercial lunar landing on March 2. Blue Ghost carry tools for 10 NASA-based scientific research projects.
It was launched on January 15 from the Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Blue Ghost travels over 2.8 million miles.
Eventually, Firefly plans to launch an alpha rocket from Florida.
