Firefly Alpha

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Firefly Alpha (Firefly α) is a two-stage orbital expendable small lift launch vehicle developed by the American company Firefly Aerospace to compete in the commercial small satellite launch market. Alpha is intended to provide launch options for both full vehicle and rideshare customers. The first launch attempt was on 3 September 2021, but the vehicle did not reach orbit when one of the first stage engines failed during ascent. A second orbital test flight took place on 1 October 2022 and successfully reached orbit. Alpha deployed 7 satellites. However, due to the lower-than-intended deployment orbit, most of the satellites re-entered before reaching their intended design life a week after launch. The first fully successful launch of Alpha took place on 15 September 2023.