Delta 4 launch seen from press viewing site (members only)

The deal comes roughly two months after Firefly inked a deal with Lockheed Martin for up to 25 launches in a similar timeframe. The first Alpha launches under this new contract would launch no earlier than 2027.

The U.S. Air Force’s fourth Advanced Extremely High Frequency spacecraft launched Wednesday from Cape Canaveral on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, expanding the reach of the military’s most secure, jam-resistant satellite communications network.

NASA and U.S. military officials are reviewing a malfunction that triggered a premature engine shutdown during a flight of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket earlier this month, a cautionary step before upcoming launches with a GPS navigation satellite and astronauts on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft.