Second time unlucky for Firefly as an Alpha rocket stage explodes

Company faces a setback on the test stand

Firefly Aerospace's run of bad luck has continued after the first stage of its Alpha Flight 7 rocket was lost during testing.

By "lost," we don't mean "dropped down the back of the sofa," we mean "experienced an event that resulted in a loss of the stage," in the words of the company.

The launch of the rocket had been scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2025, and the customer was Lockheed Martin.

The incident occurred on the test stand at Firefly's Briggs, Texas, facility. The impact on the stand is still being assessed, although Firefly has confirmed that all personnel are safe.

The loss follows an incident that occurred during an April launch, in which a rupture of the first stage at separation resulted in the detachment of the second stage's engine nozzle. The second stage performed well and recovered attitude control, but there was not enough propellant for it to reach orbital velocity and deploy its payload. Following the investigation and corrective actions, Firefly was given the green light by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to proceed with flight 7 of the Alpha rocket.

Which, alas, is highly unlikely to launch before the end of 2025 after this latest setback.

In a statement, Firefly Aerospace said, "The company is assessing the impact to its stage test stand, and no other facilities were impacted. Regular testing is part of Firefly's philosophy – we test each critical component, engine, and vehicle stage to ensure it operates within our flight requirements before we ship to the launch pad. We learn from each test to improve our designs and build a more reliable system. We will share more information on the path forward at a later date."

During an earnings call on September 22, 2025, the company's CEO, Jason Kim, said that Firefly expected "to launch Flight 7 in the coming weeks" and noted that in the slide deck, "Flight 7 is in a mature state right next to the Flight 8."

"Above all," he said, "safety and quality are of the highest importance."

Firefly Aerospace has had more success with lunar landers. Its Blue Ghost became the first fully successful commercial lander to successfully touch down on the Moon in March 2025. It is also developing its next rocket, formerly known as Beta and now named Eclipse, in collaboration with Northrop Grumman, and expects the first launch to occur in 2026. ®