There was a blastoff. Satellites are delivered for the first time.
The first deep field image of the space telescope is mind blowing.
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The rocket just got its wings.
The Alpha rocket successfully delivered a few tiny satellites to Earth for the first time in history.
The rocket lifted off from the California base at 3:01 a.m. The demonstration mission was called "Alpha Flight 2: To The Black"
A rocket engine is used to light candles.
The second launch for Alpha was named that. One of the rocket's four first-stage Reaver engines shut down early during the first test flight in September of 2021.
Alpha climbed into the sky well and hit its marks. The upper stage of the rocket was put into an elliptical transfer five minutes after it separated.
The upper stage performed a brief circularization burn with its single engine about 53 minutes after launch.
Just under an hour after the liftoff, all three payloads were supposed to be deployed. Tim Dodd of EverydayAstronaut.com (opens in new tab) said during his webcast of the today's launch that that happened. The news ofAlpha's success did not come in real time because the upper stage was not in communication with the ground station.
🚀 Alpha has reached orbit! FLTA002 has gone #ToTheBlackOctober 1, 2022
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Each of the three payloads is less than a loaf of bread. The nonprofit organization Teachers in Space has a name for it. According to the mission description, the data collected during today's flight will be shared with the educational community.
TechEdSat-15, which is owned by NASA in coordination with San Jose State University, was also in the air. The "exo-brake" is designed to help satellites leave their perch more smoothly.
After the cubesat is ejected from its dispensers, the exo-brake will deploy. The company said that the experiment was designed to improve data transfer from the little space craft.
The PicoBus deployer has five small payloads that are carried by it. The Genesis-L and Genesis-N are from AMSAT. Firefly says that the pair will demonstrate a pulsed-plasma thruster system.
The Qubik-1 and Qubik-2 will be used for communications experiments. The latter satellite will be used to test communications and tech. The camera has a low resolution.
The expendable Alpha is for small satellites. According to Firefly's Alpha user's guide, the rocket can deliver 2,580 pounds (1,170 kilograms) of cargo to low Earth orbit for fifteen million dollars per launch.
Firefly wants Alpha to be a leading option in the small-satellite launch industry, an increasingly competitive space that features players such as Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit.
The test flight was scrubbed due to a drop in helium pressure. The launch was delayed by an additional day due to unfavorable weather forecasts.
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