Firefly Alpha FLTA007 Stairway to Seven set for launch from California coast

Date:
Sat, 28 Feb 2026 14:27:24 +0000

Description:
Firefly Aerospace is returning its Alpha launch vehicle to flight after a nearly 10-month stand The post Firefly Alpha FLTA007 Stairway to Seven set
for launch from California coast appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

FULL STORY ======================================================================

Firefly Aerospace is returning its Alpha launch vehicle to flight after a nearly 10-month stand down following the failed FLTA006 Message In A Booster mission in April 2025. FLTA007 Stairway to Seven is scheduled to launch from the California coast no earlier than 4:50 PM PST on Saturday, Feb. 28 (00:50 UTC on March 1).

The launch window lasts until 8:58 PM PST on Feb. 28 (04:58 UTC on March 1). The launch had been scheduled for Friday, Feb. 27, but was postponed due to forecast high upper-level winds. Backup opportunities are available on
Sunday, March 1, and Monday, March 2, and the Firefly and USSF Space Launch Delta 30 teams are continuing to watch the upper-level winds.





The Stairway to Seven mission was originally scheduled for Feb. 20, but a severe weather forecast for the west coast caused Firefly to postpone the launch for a week. FLTA007 will launch on a southwest trajectory from Space Launch Complex 2W (SLC-2W), a former launch pad for Delta II flights, on the north side of Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB).

The flight will not carry any payloads; its purpose is to test a number of modifications to the vehicle and to demonstrate its ability to perform a nominal ascent. Should the second stage reach low-Earth orbit (LEO), it will be in a retrograde orbit, going against the direction of Earths rotation.

The Alpha rocket will ignite its four Reaver engines, using kerosene and liquid oxygen as propellants, two seconds before liftoff to ensure everything is operating correctly. Once the rocket lifts off its pad at SLC-2W, the next major milestones will be reaching Mach 1, the speed of sound, at T+55
seconds, followed by maximum dynamic pressure (Max Q) at T+1:06 minutes. Main engine cut-off is at T+2:35 minutes, and stage separation at T+2:38 minutes. Timeline of Firefly Alpha FLTA007s flight. (Credit: Firefly Aerospace)

It is at this juncture that things appeared to start to go wrong for FLTA006 Message In A Booster last year. Just milliseconds after stage separation, the first stage ruptured, and the resulting pressure wave hit the second stage. This pressure wave caused the nozzle extension of the upper stages Lightning engine to shear off, significantly reducing the second stage engines thrust. See also Stairway to Seven Updates Firefly Section NSF Store Click Here to Join L2

Even without its nozzle extension, the mission nearly succeeded, just missing orbital velocity by three seconds and the target orbit by five seconds before running out of propellant. A mishap investigation found that plume-induced flow separation caused excessive heating of the first stage on its leeward side, and stage-separation-induced loads led to the first stages rupture.

FLTA006 flew at a higher angle of attack than prior Alpha missions, and this angle of attack contributed to the excessive heating event. Corrective
actions now implemented include increasing the thickness of the first stages thermal protection and reducing the rockets angle of attack during key flight phases.

Should FLTA007 have a nominal stage separation, the next key milestone is fairing separation at T+3:03 minutes. The Lightning engine will run until second-stage engine cutoff at T+8:02 minutes. All event times are approximate and may vary depending on flight conditions. Firefly Aerospaces Briggs,
Texas, facility. (Credit: Gary Blair for NSF)

This missions road to the launch pad not only awaited the Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) clearance to fly following the Message In A Booster mishap but also the production of a replacement first stage following another mishap at Firefly Aerospaces facility in Briggs, Texas.

On Sept. 29, a first stage set for use on FLTA007 Stairway to Seven was being tested at an outdoor stand in Briggs when it exploded after hydrocarbon contamination caused what Firefly termed a combustion event in one of the stages Reaver engines. The company identified a process error during the stages integration that resulted in the chain of events.

The company revealed a summary of its results on Nov. 12 and noted that it conducted a daylong quality stand-down in which teams reviewed and optimized existing procedures. Firefly also announced its implementation of corrective actions, including additional fluid system inspections, additional automated aborts, and optimizing the first stages sensors. One step closer on the Stairway to Seven!

Following a successful 20 second static fire, the Alpha Flight 7 launch
window will open no earlier than February 18.Stay tuned for more on the test flight. https://t.co/bCuGqJI8q8 pic.twitter.com/ceH2zoKIVz

Firefly Aerospace (@FireflySpace) February 9, 2026



The test stand at Briggs remained intact despite the incident and is being upgraded, which the company hopes to complete this quarter. Firefly used another stage on its production line to support the Stairway to Seven mission and announced that it had shipped the stage to VSFB to join the second stage already there on Jan. 8.

Firefly erected the entire Alpha launch vehicle on the pad at SLC-2W in late January to prepare for a 20-second test firing and subsequent launch. On Feb. 6, the FLTA007 Alpha successfully test-fired its four Reaver engines for the full duration of 20 seconds.

FLTA007 Stairway to Seven will be the final Alpha Block 1 vehicle to fly, as the company is moving to the upgraded Alpha Block II with FLTA008 and subsequent launches. The Stairway to Seven flight will test not only the
fixes applied to the first stage following Message In A Booster but also several key Block II systems. A Firefly Alpha Block II second stage
undergoing qualification testing in Briggs, Texas. (Credit: Firefly
Aerospace)

Block II will use in-house avionics and batteries built by Firefly rather
than off-the-shelf, and these items will be used across Fireflys spacecraft and rockets. The Block II avionics systems will fly on FLTA007 and operate in shadow mode; that is, the new avionics will operate in the background but not control the flight.

Block II will also use improved thermal protection that will be tested aboard Stairway to Seven. Including Block II hardware on FLTA007 will help qualify some improvements and gain flight heritage for systems before Block II debuts on the next flight.

Alpha Block II will feature longer first and second stages with stronger carbon-composite structures manufactured using automated methods. The new version will also use optimized first and second stage propellant tank configurations to extend burn time. Block II will still use four Reaver engines on the first stage and one Lightning engine on the second stage. Graphic comparing Alpha Block I and Block II. (Credit: Firefly Aerospace)

Should Stairway to Seven be a success, the first Block II flight will be the US Space Forces VICTUS HAZE Jackal mission, which is scheduled for no earlier than the second quarter of this year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) QuickSounder mission is also on the Alpha manifest for this year, and other missions may also fly before the end of 2026.

Alpha, capable of flying over 1,000 kg to LEO, or over 600 kg to a 500 km
high Sun-synchronous orbit, currently flies out of VSFB SLC-2W. Firefly,
while developing its Eclipse medium-lift launch vehicle, also plans to fly Alpha missions from Launch Pad-0A at Wallops Island, Virginia, and from the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden.

NASASpaceflight is providing launch livestream production services for
Firefly FLTA007.

(Lead image: Alpha on the pad at SLC-2W. Credit: Firefly Aerospace)



The post Firefly Alpha FLTA007 Stairway to Seven set for launch from California coast appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/02/firefly-flta007-launch/


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