Among the six orbital launches that took place between April 28 and 29 (setting a new rate record), the American startup Firefly Aerospace launched its Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Northern California. The launch went particularly well for the first two minutes, before an unexpected event disrupted the mission and the payload's orbital placement. The Alpha rocket, which was on its sixth flight, lost the Lockheed Martin satellite technology demonstrator, which provided the mission's payload.
Even though Firefly Aerospace decided to be transparent and continue to broadcast the images, something happened, and it's still difficult to know what. Approaching the 3-minute mark, the first stage of the Alpha rocket was about to separate, before white smoke replaced the visual on the launcher. An explosion, most likely, which did not affect the second stage. Shortly after, the Firefly Aerospace teams confirmed that the spacecraft was still accelerating and that the payload was about to be deployed into orbit.
However, the orbital launch never took place. In fact, Firefly Aerospace did indeed lose the payload. Initially, the press release stated that the target orbit had been missed, before it was changed without this clarification. We now know that "the stage and its payload reached the Pacific Ocean safely, in an open area north of Antarctica." Lockheed Martin's satellite demonstrator therefore quickly fell back, and orbital velocity was clearly not reached, or even approached.
It appears that the explosion of the first stage had an impact on the second stage, potentially due to debris. These could have damaged the second-stage booster and thus explain the spacecraft's lack of performance in reaching orbital speed.
Alpha Rocket: 4 Failures for 2 Successes
In its statement, Firefly Aerospace did not give a reason for the anomaly and indicated that an investigation had been opened. "The team is working closely with our customers and the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] to conduct an investigation and determine the root cause of the anomaly. We will provide more information on our mission page once the investigation is complete. Its client Lockheed Martin will need it, as the American company specializing in military equipment has signed up for a total of 25 missions over the next five years.
To date, only two launches of the Alpha rocket have been successful. The other four missions have ended in failure since the launcher's debut in September 2021.
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