Firefly Aerospace launches its 4th Alpha rocket

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 anomaly came about a month after the FAA issued a Return to Flight determination for Firefly’s Alpha rockets following an anomaly experienced during Alpha Flight 6 in April.

Firefly Aerospace is asking academic institutions, startup companies and the public to submit ideas for payloads to launch, free of charge, on the inaugural orbital flight of the company’s Alpha rocket next year from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.