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ROCKET SCIENCE
Firefly Aerospace rocket explodes minutes after first launch
by Paul Brinkmann
Washington DC (UPI) Sep 3, 2021

Firefly Alpha terminated mid-flight
Vandenberg SFB CA (SPX) Sep 03 - Space Launch Delta 30 terminated the Firefly Aerospace Inc., Alpha rocket over the Pacific Ocean at 7:01 p.m. Pacific Time after a successful lift off at 6:59 p.m. Pacific Time from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg SFB Sept. 2. There were no injuries associated with the anomaly. A team of investigators will convene to determine the cause of the failure. More information will be released as it becomes available.

Texas-based Firefly Aerospace's first rocket launch attempt ended in an explosion minutes after liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Thursday night.

Videos and photos posted online showed an orange fireball about two minutes after liftoff of the Firefly Alpha rocket at 9:59 p.m. EDT. White smoke trailed as a piece of debris as it fell into the Pacific Ocean.

The U.S. Space Force terminated the flight after a problem that wasn't immediately known or disclosed, according to a Space Force news release. Such flight terminations are done to prevent rockets from flying outside the designated launch path.

The announcement also said debris could be floating in the ocean and may wash ashore.

"A team of investigators has determined that any debris from the rocket should be considered unsafe," according to the release.

The company acknowledged the incident, which it called an anomaly, quickly on Twitter, and posted a statement.

"While it's too early to draw conclusions as to the root cause, we will be diligent in our investigation," Firefly Aerospace said.

The rocket had been carrying experiments for Firefly and for several universities.

Despite losing the rocket, the company said it gained data about the rocket as it reached supersonic speed. Alpha, at 95 feet tall, is designed to place payloads into orbit.

Firefly, founded in 2014, is led by CEO Tom Markusic, a rocket propulsion scientist who worked for NASA, Elon Musk's SpaceX, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic.


Related Links
Vandenberg Spaceforce Base
Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com


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ROCKET SCIENCE
DLR Lampoldshausen prepares P5 test stand for the technologies of the future
Lampoldshausen, Germany (SPX) Sep 03, 2021
The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is preparing a central component of its extensive test infrastructure for the future by expanding the European Space Agency (ESA) P5 large-scale test stand at the DLR site in Lampoldshausen. This means that the next generation of space propulsion systems can also be tested under flexible and reliable conditions. The 65-metre-high building of ESA's P5 test stand towers over the DLR site. Inside, it has housed unique high-t ... read more

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