Firefly Aerospace Launches Alpha Flight 7 "Stairway To Seven" | Live

YouTube ^ | March 11, 2025 | NASASpaceflight

[SunkenCiv]

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company that enables government and commercial customers to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. As the partner of choice for responsive space missions, Firefly is the only commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with an approximate 24-hour notice. Firefly is also the only company to achieve a fully successful landing on the Moon. Established in 2017, Firefly’s engineering, manufacturing, and test facilities are co-located in central Texas to enable rapid innovation. The company’s small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles are built with common flight-proven technologies to enable speed, reliability, and cost efficiencies for each mission from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond. 

Firefly Aerospace Launches Alpha Flight 7 "Stairway To Seven" | Live 
NASASpaceflight | 1.43M subscribers 
12K watching now | Started streaming 12 minutes ago

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TOPICS: Astronomy; Business/Economy; Science
KEYWORDS: firefly; fireflyaerospace

[SunkenCiv]

Alpha Flight 7 is the last flown in the rocket’s current configuration and serves as a test flight with the primary goal to achieve nominal first and second stage performance.

Flight 7 will test and validate key systems ahead of Firefly’s Block II configuration upgrade on Flight 8 that’s designed to enhance reliability and manufacturability across the vehicle. The Block II configuration includes a 7-foot increase to Alpha’s length, consolidated batteries and avionics built in house, an enhanced thermal protection system, and stronger carbon composite structures built with automated machinery.

The subsystems tested on Flight 7, including the in-house avionics and thermal improvements, will allow Firefly to gain flight heritage and validate lessons learned ahead of the full configuration upgrade.

The Alpha FLTA007 Stairway To Seven mission is prepared to launch no earlier than Wednesday, March 11, 2026. A 2 hour window begins at 5:50PM PST. Stairway To Seven will launch from Firefly’s SLC-2 complex at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

[SunkenCiv]

NASASpaceflight LLC is proud to be providing Launch Livestream & Media Services to Firefly Aerospace for the launch of Firefly Aerospace's FLTA007.

[Repeal The 17th]

Whole lot of “hype” in this statement:
“...enables government and commercial customers
to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime.
...
Firefly is also the only company
to achieve a fully successful landing on the Moon....”

[Repeal The 17th]

My niece is in the space force and is stationed in Vandenberg.

[SunkenCiv]

https://search.brave.com/search?q=Firefly+landing+on+the+moon&summary=1

Firefly Aerospace successfully landed its Blue Ghost lunar lander on the Moon on March 2, 2025, marking the first fully successful soft landing by a commercial company. The landing occurred at 08:34 UTC in Mare Crisium, near the volcanic feature Mons Latreille, with the lander achieving a precise, upright, and stable touchdown.

The mission, named Ghost Riders in the Sky, was part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program and delivered 10 NASA science and technology payloads to the lunar surface. These experiments focused on regolith properties, radiation tolerance, dust mitigation, lunar geophysics, and navigation using Earth-based GPS/Galileo signals.

Blue Ghost operated for 14 Earth days (one lunar day), collecting over 110 GB of data before its solar-powered systems failed after the lunar sunset on March 16, 2025. The mission concluded at 23:25 UTC that day, after more than 346 hours of daylight operations—the longest commercial surface operations on the Moon to date.

This achievement made Firefly Aerospace the second private company to land on the Moon, following Intuitive Machines in 2023, and a major milestone in commercial space exploration.

AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.

[left that other site]

Hope it doesn’t go over like a lead zeppelin.

[Who is John Galt?]

[tet68]

The best line from Firefly...

Pilot: my gosh it’s like something from science fiction!

His wife/first mate: Honey, we live on a space ship!

[Jeff Chandler]

The future of rocket launches appears to be private companies.

Firefly compared to Rocket Lab:

1. Rocket Size and Capability

Firefly Alpha
Payload: ~1,000 kg to low Earth orbit
Price: about $15M per launch
About 3× the payload of Electron

Rocket Lab Electron
Payload: ~300 kg to LEO
Price: $7–8M per launch

Interpretation

Firefly targets larger small satellites
Rocket Lab targets very small satellites

2. Experience and Launch Cadence

Rocket Lab
More than 70 launches
Regular launch cadence and operational profit in launch services

Firefly
Only a handful of Alpha launches so far
Reliability still improving

Bottom line:
Rocket Lab is far more proven operationally.

3. Business Model

Rocket Lab
Becoming a “space systems company”:
Launch services
Satellite buses (Photon)
Spacecraft components
Defense contracts
Neutron reusable rocket coming

This diversification produces steady revenue growth and margins around 35–37%.

Firefly
More focused on mission services and lunar exploration:
Alpha launch vehicle
Blue Ghost lunar lander program
NASA lunar contracts
Future larger rockets

Revenue growth has been rapid but with higher losses and risk.

4. Future Rockets

Rocket Lab – Neutron
~13,000 kg payload
partially reusable
intended to compete with Falcon 9 class rockets

Firefly – Eclipse
heavy-lift rocket planned for later in the decade
Both are trying to move upmarket into larger launches.

5. Financial Position (2025)
Company Approx valuation

Rocket Lab ~$30B
Firefly ~$3B

Firefly is earlier stage with higher risk but potentially higher growth.

[LastDayz]

I miss that show. At least they closed it up nicely with Serenity.

[one guy in new jersey]

“...regolith properties, radiation tolerance, dust mitigation...”

Admittedly, important targets for research/experimentation.

[PIF]

Apparently, NASA’s Inspector General just releases a scathing review of Artemis and SpaceX’s Starship and Lander efforts. I don’t have a link.