Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket fails to reach orbit the first flight.
3. 9. 2021Firefly Aerospace suffered a failure during the maiden flight of Alpha rocket – small launch vehicle capable of launching 1000 kg to LEO. Prior to launch Alpha preformed a static fire test on the launch mount in Vandenberg SFB, California to verify that it is ready for flight. On the first attempt, an abort was called at T-16 seconds, Firefly managed to recycle and launch the vehicle an hour later. After a successful liftoff, Alpha reached Mach-1 later than expected and then span out of control and had to be terminated for safety with FTS (Flight Termination System).

