Firefly Aerospace reported an accident with the accelerator of its Alpha rocket during testing on a vertical stand in Bridges, Texas. The incident occurred during testing of four engines before sending the rocket to California, where it was planned to launch a Lockheed Martin satellite. The company assured that no employees were injured, writes ArsTechnica.
During the incident, a fire broke out in the engine compartment. Firefly is currently assessing the condition of the test stand. No other facilities were affected. The company noted that each component of the rocket undergoes thorough testing to increase system reliability.
The destroyed booster was to have been the seventh launch of Alpha, a two-stage rocket capable of delivering about one ton of payload to low Earth orbit. The launch was to be Alpha's comeback after a failure in April 2025, when damage to the first stage prevented the upper stage from firing.
Alpha has a mixed track record: out of six launches, only two were fully successful. Two more delivered their payloads to the wrong orbit, and two failed to reach space at all. Earlier, in 2020, the booster also caught fire during testing, but no serious damage was caused.
Firefly recently went public on NASDAQ, raising about $900 million to fund future programs, including the Eclipse medium-range rocket in partnership with Northrop Grumman. Despite the Alpha problems, the company successfully landed its Blue Ghost rover on the moon and has secured orders for several future lunar missions from NASA and commercial customers.