Firefly's Alpha rocket lifts off but is exploding shortly into the first launch

September 7, 2021: -Space company Firefly launched its Alpha rocket for the first time on Thursday evening. Still, the vehicle had suffered an issue a couple of minutes into the ascent and exploded in the sky above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

According to the company’s mission control audio, Firefly attempts to reach orbit, and its Alpha rocket went supersonic moments before the failure. The missile was launched from the SLC-2 complex at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

“Alpha experienced an anomaly during the first stage ascent that resulted in the loss of the vehicle. As we gather some more information, additional details will be provided,” the company tweeted.

Standing at 95 feet tall, the Alpha rocket of Firefly is designed to launch nearly 1,000 kilograms of payload to low Earth orbit for $15 million for each launch. This puts Firefly in the “medium-lift” category of rockets to pit it against few other companies, which include Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit, ABL Space, and Relativity Space.

The first Alpha mission, called Dedicated Research & Education Accelerator Mission (DREAM), launched from Vandenberg’s SLC-2, was a test flight and carried multiple items, with 11 technical payloads. The specialized payloads include A Teachers in Space cube satellite, Purdue University’s FireSail, the Hawaii Science and Technology Museum’s little satellite, six FOSSA picosatellites, a demonstration spacecraft for Benchmark Space Systems, and the Space Electric Thruster Systems propulsion demonstration spacecraft.

With a valuation of over $1 billion, Firefly has raised more than $175 million to date. The company is famous for its launch business, with the Alpha and the Beta. But it is working on a lunar lander known as Blue Ghost and a space utility vehicle to transport satellites into unique orbits after a launch, also known as “Space tug.”

The company is willing to launch its first Alpha rocket in December. Still, CEO Tom Markusic told CNBC this year that Firefly “ran into some problems with readiness of the launch site” at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and also had a huge delay from a supplier of the rocket’s flight termination system, an essential piece required for the missile to launch. Markusic worked at Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, and Branson’s Virgin Galactic before Firefly.