American Alpha rocket explodes while launching satellite into orbit

Private aerospace company Firefly Aerospace launched its Alpha launch vehicle for the sixth time. Due to technical problems during the flight, it failed to deploy Lockheed Martin's experimental satellite platform into orbit.

As part of the Message In A Booster mission, the Alpha rocket launched on April 29 from the U.S. Space Force base Vandenberg in California. According to the international news agency Reuters, two and a half minutes after liftoff, the rocket’s stages separated. One of the stages exploded, and its debris damaged the nozzle of the second stage engine. The rocket reached an unplanned orbit, lower than intended. As a result, the payload — the LM400 satellite platform — could not be deployed.

However, despite the failure, the upper part of the Alpha rocket remained operational for several more minutes and climbed to an altitude of 320,000 meters. Shortly thereafter, the second stage with the satellite fell into the Pacific Ocean, north of Antarctica. The circumstances and causes of the accident are being investigated by Firefly Aerospace specialists, representatives of Lockheed Martin, as well as the U.S. Space Force and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The LM400 platform (Satellite Bus) developed by Lockheed Martin is designed to deploy up to six satellites into orbit simultaneously, which in turn can perform a wide variety of tasks. For example, Earth remote sensing, communication support, optical observation, imaging and radar, and data processing. At the same time, the LM400 device is compatible not only with Alpha but also with other launch vehicles. The model will also be used to carry out missions for the U.S. Space Force.

Firefly Aerospace is a private aerospace company headquartered in Austin, Texas. It develops light launch vehicles for deploying small satellites into orbit. Between 2021 and now, four out of six Alpha flights have failed. Only the third and fifth launches were successful. Earlier, in February this year, the U.S. Space Force signed a $21.8 million contract with private company Firefly Aerospace. These funds were allocated for rocket launches under a rapid response program that involves preparing and conducting orbital flights within hours. And in March, the company celebrated the biggest achievement in its 11-year history — the Blue Ghost spacecraft, created by Firefly Aerospace, successfully landed on the Moon.

In addition, Firefly Aerospace engineers are developing a new reusable launch vehicle, the Medium Launch Vehicle, in partnership with the defense industry company Northrop Grumman. Thus, the company is becoming an increasingly serious competitor to the current market leader, SpaceX.