Problem with Firefly's Alpha rocket puts Lockheed satellite in shallow orbit

Problem with Firefly's Alpha rocket puts Lockheed satellite in shallow orbit

Firefly Aerospace said the sixth mission of its Alpha rocket suffered a mishap in space after launching from California on Tuesday putting a satellite owned by Lockheed Martin in a "lower than planned orbit," suggesting a potential mission failure.

Firefly said in a post on X that the mishap occurred during separation of Alpha's core stage booster with its second stage roughly two and a half minutes after liftoff. The faulty separation "impacted the Stage 2 Lightning engine nozzle, putting the vehicle in a lower than planned orbit."

The company said it was working with Lockheed to determine the root cause of the failure. The mishap tallies four Alpha failures since its first flight in 2021 as Firefly, which achieved a breakthrough success in landing on the moon in March, tries to build its centerpiece launch business in a market dominated by Elon Musk's SpaceX.

FIREFLY AEROSPACE / REUTERS

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