Firefly Aerospace Successfully Launches Alpha Rocket a Year After Pre-Launch Explosion

Texas-based Firefly Aerospace has successfully launched its Alpha small launch vehicle into orbit following two failed attempts last year, including an explosion during pre-flight checks. This will be excellent news for all the new Firefly Aerospace shareholders, as the company officially went public in August 2025, valuing it at $10 billion.

Firefly's Alpha rocket has been in development since the early 2010s, with its first flight test in 2021. Since then, it's had three successful launches, though a pair of failures in 2025 really put a dampener on its progress. First, an April 2025 launch failed to reach orbit following an anomaly during stage separation; in August last year, an Alpha rocket exploded on the launchpad during pre-flight tests.

This time around, though, everything went to plan. The "Stairway to Seven" mission, the seventh flight attempt of the Alpha rocket, reached orbit following an 8:40 p.m ...