Private aerospace company Firefly declared its “To the Black” mission a success with the inaugural launch of its Alpha rocket despite most of the rocket’s payload re-entering the atmosphere.
The small Firefly satellite rocket lifted off Oct. 1 at 3:01 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Two days later, the company announced “100% mission success” on Twitter after Alpha delivered three payloads into orbit. However, the rocket apparently dropped the payloads into a lower orbit than planned, causing its orbit to decay over time, SpaceNews first reported. Firefly did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.
🚀100% mission success. Last Saturday, Firefly made a midnight run “To The Black”, deployed three satellites and made history. Congratulations, Lluernes; you’ve worked tirelessly to achieve this game-changing milestone. May we never forget this moment. #grateful #ToTheBlack pic.twitter.com/SgxP8FZ61Q
— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) October 3, 2022
The Alpha rocket carried two small cubesats for Teachers in Space, which were designed to collect flight data for educational purposes, as well as the TES-15 satellite, a collaboration between NASA and San Jose State University designed to test an “exo-brake” that can increase drag in order to deorbit a satellite. The rocket also carried six picosatellites for the Espai Libre Foundation to test communication and remote sensing technology.
The rocket was to deliver the satellites to an orbit of 299 km (300 kilometers). Instead, US Space Force tracking data initially detected the objects at an orbit of about 220 kilometers (135 miles) and an apogee of 275 kilometers (175 miles), according to SpaceNews. Those lower altitudes caused the satellites to decay, and three of the objects re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on Oct. 5, according to the Space Force’s Space-Track database.
But the rocket company is still behind the inaugural launch of its Alpha rocket. “Preliminary reviews show that we will need only minor tweaks for our next mission, all while providing valuable scientific and technical data to our demo customers,” Firefly wrote on Twitter. “We are very pleased with the data we have received so far.”
“Our primary goal for Alpha FLTA002 was to achieve a predefined elliptical orbit after the second stage burn. This was 100% successful,” the company added. But not everyone agrees, with satellite database company Seradata declaring it a “launch bug.” The company cited “the probable loss of life of the seven satellites on board compared to their design life,” for its decree that the satellites will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere much earlier than expected, wrote Seradata on Twitter.
The expendable 28.96 m (29 meters) high Alpha rocket is designed to provide low-cost travel for small satellites, carrying payloads of up to 2,866 pounds (1,300 kilograms) for a price of 15 million dollars per release. With Alpha reaching orbit, Firefly became the fifth commercial rocket manufacturer in the United States to do so. Other companies include SpaceX, Virgin Orbit, Astra and Rocket Lab.
Firefly’s first attempt to fly his Alpha rocket ended in flames. On September 2, 2021, one of the four Reaver engines on Alpha’s first stage unexpectedly shut down about 15 seconds after liftoff, triggering the flight termination system. The rocket exploded in a massive fireball over the Pacific Ocean. So, even with the loss of its payloads, Alpha’s liftoff this time measures up much better compared to last year.
More: Firefly sends an Alpha rocket into orbit, one year after the explosive launch attempt