[UPDATED] Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha Rocket Fails Mid-Flight, Lockheed Martin’s Satellite Lost In Ocean

Originally planned to launch on 27 April 2025, the Firefly Aerospace FLTA006 booster mission for Lockheed Martin has been officially scheduled for 28 April 2025. This change of launch date is a response to the bad weather that impacted the mission’s launch on Sunday, 27 April 2025.

Update 30 April: Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha Fails

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket suffered a malfunction during its sixth mission. The launch resulted in the loss of a Lockheed Martin satellite that ended up in the Pacific Ocean instead of reaching orbit.

According to Firefly, about two minutes after liftoff from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base, the nozzle on the rocket’s upper engine broke off just after it separated from the main booster, which greatly reduced its power. Alpha’s upper stage fired for a few minutes and climbed to an altitude of 320 km (200 miles), but it didn’t make it to its planned orbit. Instead, Earth’s gravity pulled it back into the atmosphere.

Update 28 April: Launch Postponed by One Day

Alpha FLTA006’s launch was scrubbed today due to a ground support equipment issue. The rocket and spacecraft remain healthy, and backup launch opportunities are available 29 April through 1 May at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The new target liftoff is set for tomorrow, 6:37 am PDT on 29 April, with weather currently 90% GO. 

Firefly Aerospace FLTA006 Launch Mission

This rescheduled launch will take place from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, United States. From various indications, we can tell that this launch mission has two main objectives: one for Lockheed Martin (the customer) and the other for Firefly Aerospace (the launch service provider).

The FLTA006 will launch Lockheed Martin’s privately funded satellite, the LM 400, into low Earth orbit (LEO) where it’ll demonstrate its abilities. LM 400 is a small customizable satellite that can support various missions such as remote sensing, communications, imagery and radar Earth observations.

Lockheed Martin hopes to use this launch to properly demonstrate the various functions of this new satellite. Due to the size of this satellite, the defence firm is relying on the Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket as part of its multi-launch agreement between both firms, which will span 5 years.

On the side of Firefly Aerospace, the FLTA006 booster mission will serve a very important purpose. This will be to imprint the performance of the Alpha rocket on the figurative walls of the space industry as the only 1 metric ton rocket in operation.

While this is the sixth flight for the Alpha rocket launcher, it will play an important role in showing off the launcher’s performance before prospective customers. Both Lockheed Martin and Firefly Aerospace are hoping for the success of the FLTA006 mission, as it’ll help boost their businesses.

Reason For The Previous Firefly Aerospace FLTA006 Mission Delay

On 26 April 2025, Firefly Aerospace took to its official X page to announce the FLTA006 “Message In A Booster” mission. From the post we got information on the mission’s payload, the Lockheed Martin LM 400 satellite, and the previous launch date.

Following this post, the space firm dropped a weather update saying, “A thick cloud cover rolled in and the weather is now 20% go tomorrow.” From this statement, we see conviction that the launch will go according to plan as scheduled for 27 April 2025.

However, another weather update broke this conviction, saying, “With a high chance for a weather violation today, we’re moving our launch attempt to tomorrow when conditions look much clearer.” Now, we await this launch, which will take place on 28 April 2025 by 6:37 a.m. PDT.

If you want to watch this launch event, you can join the livestream 50 minutes before takeoff via this link. After this launch, we expect to keep seeing more launch partnerships between Firefly Aerospace and Lockheed Martin.