A small rocket that took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Tuesday morning ended up in the Pacific Ocean north of Antarctica after a mishap occurred a few minutes into the launch.
Firefly Aerospace’s sixth Alpha rocket launched at 6:37 a.m. Tuesday. Its payload — aerospace company Lockheed Martin’s LM 400 Technology Demonstrator, a demo of the company’s new multi-mission satellite bus — was intended to reach orbit but an “anomaly” stopped it in its tracks.
It launched into a marine layer blanketing the base, following two days of delays due to weather and on-the-fritz ground support equipment.
Although Firefly initially believed the mission went as planned, it later released an update at 8 a.m. saying a mishap occurred during the first stage of separation, impacting the Stage 2 Lightning engine nozzle.
In a second update, the company said the launch “began with a nominal liftoff and progressed through first flight, reaching target separation velocity.”
“The rocket then experienced a mishap between stage separation and second stage ignition that led to the loss of the Lightning engine nozzle extension, substantially reducing the engine’s thrust,” the statement continued.
Initial indications showed the rocket’s upper stage reached an altitude of 199 miles.
“However,” Firefly said, “upon further assessment, the team learned the upper stage did not reach orbital velocity, and the stage and payload have now safely impacted the Pacific Ocean in a cleared zone north of Antarctica.”
Firefly said its team is working closely with its customers and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct an investigation and determine the root cause of the anomaly.
The FAA is requiring Firefly to conduct this mishap investigation, which is designed to enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again, according to the FAA.
The mission — named “Message in a Booster” — was Firefly’s second for Lockheed Martin. It was the first of the companies’ multi-launch agreement that includes up to 25 missions over the next five years, according to Firefly.
“The mission carried Lockheed Martin’s LM 400 tech demo with a goal to prove out the risk-reduction and pathfinding efforts the company has done for its multi-mission satellite bus,” according to Firefly’s website.
“Firefly recognizes the hard work that went into payload development and would like to thank our mission partners at Lockheed Martin for their continued support,” it said.
The firm’s manifest includes two additional Alpha rocket launches from Vandenberg in 2025.
