The Firefly Alpha ㅡ is a two-stage, ultra-light rocket capable of launching payloads of up to 1,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit. At the same time, the Firefly Alpha can place up to 630 kilograms of cargo into a sun-synchronous orbit.
This rocket is designed exactly for commercial launches of small satellites, and the delivery cost per kilogram of cargo is the lowest among rockets of this class. Just one launch of the reusable Firefly Alpha rocket will cost $15 mln.
The rocket launched, but the company soon reported a certain anomaly during liftoff in the first stage. Firefly investing-in-ukraine/business-opportunities/aerospace/">Aerospace's broadcast showed the rocket exploding in the sky at 4:59 a.m. on Sept. 3.
The Alpha rocket explosion was controlled, and its flight was terminated by Space Launch Delta 30 team of Vandenberg Base after fixing a deviation in the flight trajectory. The rocket launch itself could be called successful.
