Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, 'Out There,' was published on Nov. 13, 2018.
View from the upper stage of Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket during its sixth-ever launch on April 29, 2025, which ended in failure.The sixth-ever launch of Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket is officially a failure.
shortly after its two stages separated, which led to the loss of the nozzle extension for the upper stage's single Lightning engine. This significantly reduced the engine's thrust, dooming the mission, Firefly said in an update several hours after launch. "Initial indications showed Alpha's upper stage reached 320 km in altitude. However, upon further assessment, the team learned the upper stage did not reach orbital velocity, and the stage and payload have now safely impacted the Pacific Ocean in a cleared zone north of Antarctica,"Watch a private German rocket explode during 1st orbital launch attempt from European soil SpaceX loses Starship rocket stage again, but catches giant Super Heavy booster during Flight 8 launch "Firefly recognizes the hard work that went into payload development and would like to thank our mission partners at Lockheed Martin for their continued support," it continues."The team is working closely with our customers and the FAA to conduct an investigation and determine root cause of the anomaly. We will provide more information on our mission page after the investigation is completed." Today's mission, which Firefly called"Message in a Booster," was the first of up to 25 that the company will conduct for Lockheed Martin over the next five years. The flight aimed to send a satellite technology demonstrator to LEO. This demo payload"was specifically built to showcase the company's pathfinding efforts for its LM 400 mid-sized, multi-mission satellite bus, and to demonstrate the space vehicle's operational capabilities on orbit for potential customers," Firefly wrote in a prelaunchContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsFirefly Aerospace launches the"Message in a Booster" mission on its Alpha rocket on April 29, 2025 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.Alpha, which can deliver up to 2,270 pounds of payload to LEO, debuted in September 2021. Just two of its six missions to date have been fully successful.from Monday to today. Four of those missions sent broadband satellites to orbit for LEO megaconstellations, and the other one lofted the European Space Agency's Biomassto keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life,"Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.
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