29.01.2025

Render of an Alpha rocket lifting off from Esrange. In collaboration with SSC, Firefly is set to become first U.S. company to launch satellites from continental Europe. Credit: Firefly Aerospace

ORLANDO, Fla. — Firefly Aerospace expects to start launching its Alpha rocket from launch sites in Virginia and Sweden as soon as 2026 to help the company avoid growing congestion at launch sites in Florida and California.

Firefly announced plans in June 2024 to start launching its Alpha rocket from an existing pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia used by Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket as well as from a new pad at Esrange Space Centre in Sweden. That rocket has, to date, launched only from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Global Spaceport Alliance here Jan. 27, Adam Oakes, vice president of launch vehicles at Firefly, confirmed the company was proceeding with those plans, citing the need to avoid congestion at Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

“There is a traffic jam and basic things like the weather are going to be the biggest holdup,” he said, noting the company’s experience at Vandenberg.

He focused on the partnership with Esrange to develop an Alpha launch capability there, saying that was the ideal partner to set up a launch site outside the United States. “Esrange has basically done everything for the science community in space except an orbital rocket,” he said, citing the more than 600 sounding rocket launches there as well as experience with ground stations.

“It was the perfect partnership and the biggest softball of all the opportunities out there,” he concluded.

Oakes said Firefly was planning five Alpha launches in 2025, all from Vandenberg. The company has performed five Alpha launches to date, dating back to the failed inaugural launch in 2021. The vehicle most recently launched in July 2024, placing a set of NASA-sponsored cubesats into orbit.

“It’s going to be a busy year for Firefly” in 2026, he said, although he did not project a specific flight rate. Firefly will be working with Esrange to complete the Alpha launch site there, with the goal of a first launch by late 2026 or early 2027. The company also expects the first Alpha launch from Wallops in the first quarter of 2026.

One theme of discussions at the meeting was improving interoperability of launch vehicles across launch sites in different countries. That has traditionally been difficult, even within the same country, as launch sites optimize facilities for a specific customer.

“We want to lure the operators in, so you want to make it as attractive to those operators as you possibly can,” said Paul Cremins, head of spaceflight at the United Kingdom’s Department for Transport. From the view of launch companies, he said, “if you’re investing a lot of money in those pads and everything else, you’re not going to share it with your rivals.”

He said he saw some opportunities to enable vehicles to use spaceports in different countries, from recognizing other countries’ launch licenses to streamlining processes like environmental approvals in cases where a vehicle needs launch licenses from multiple countries, such as an American rocket launching from Europe. “I think we can make some quick wins in reducing that regulatory burden,” he said.

Oakes said Firefly is continuing to work on regulatory issues for launches from Esrange. “The regulatory piece can really put you back if you want to let it,” he said. “We have a lot of paperwork in place. We’re not quite there on everything but things are moving in the right direction.”

Quelle: SN