American private aerospace company Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha launch vehicle launched military-industrial company Lockheed Martin’s experimental communications satellite into the wrong orbit due to a problem. This situation was officially reported Web site Firefly Aerospace.
Alpha was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on December 22, carrying an ESA electronically controlled antenna into low Earth orbit. This device was supposed to be used to coordinate fighter aircraft. The first part of the flight took place as planned, after which Firefly dispatchers announced that they were ready to initiate the second stage to place the aircraft in the desired orbit and separate the cargo.
However, the company later stopped updating the launch status for a few hours. At this time, Space Force tracking data showed two objects in orbits not intended by the mission.
12 hours after launch, Firefly confirmed information that there was a malfunction during the launch of the upper stage. Nevertheless, engineers managed to contact ESA, indicating that the operation was partially successful. Installation of satellite equipment can take up to several weeks.
Firefly representatives promised to investigate the reasons for the incident.
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