Firefly Aerospace launches its 4th Alpha rocket

The rocket, designated FLTA006 by Firefly Aerospace, carried a technology demonstration for Lockheed Martin’s LM400 Technology Demonstration (Tech Demo) satellite bus. The mission, dubbed ‘Message in a Booster,’ lifted off at the beginning of the Tuesday launch window at 6:37 a.m. PDT (9:37 a.m. EDT, 1337 UTC).

It’s Steve Clarke’s job to merge the goals of space scientists with NASA’s strategic plans for exploring the solar system, two factors which are not always in lock-step, as the space agency seeks to return humans to the moon, and eventually send astronauts to Mars.

A souped-up version of the Israeli Beresheet moon lander built in Texas could be ready to carry NASA science and technology payloads to the lunar surface before the end of 2022, according to officials from Firefly Aerospace.