SANTA FE, N.M. — A problem with the upper stage of a Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket placed a Lockheed Martin technology demonstration satellite into the wrong orbit on a Dec. 22 launch.
The Alpha rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:32 p.m. Eastern on a mission called “Fly the Lightning” by Firefly. The launch was originally scheduled for Dec. 20 but postponed two days because of weather.
The rocket’s ascent appeared to go as planned, and launch controllers reported that the upper stage had achieved a nominal transfer orbit. Firefly then said a second burn of the upper stage was planned to take place about 40 minutes later to circularize the orbit, followed by payload separation.
However, Firefly did not provide an update about the status of the launch for several hours. In the meantime, tracking data from the U.S. Space Force showed two objects in elliptical orbits of 215 by 523 kilometers from the launch. That suggested the upper stage malfunctioned during the circularization burn.
Firefly confirmed in a statement 12 hours after launch that the second stage malfunctioned. “Alpha’s scheduled stage 2 engine relight did not deliver the payload to its precise target orbit,” the company said. “We will work with our customer and government partners to investigate the stage 2 performance and determine the root cause.”
The payload on the mission was a small satellite developed and funded by Lockheed Martin. The spacecraft, using a Nebula bus from Terran Orbital, was intended to demonstrate an electronically steerable antenna that could be used on future broadband satellites. The company planned to use the satellite to show the antenna could be quickly calibrated and put into service.
Firefly said in its statement that communications had been established with the satellite “and mission operations are now underway.” However, the low perigee of the spacecraft’s orbit indicates it is…
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