Firefly Aerospace · United States · First flight 2021
A small launch vehicle designed for dedicated small satellite missions. Uses tap-off cycle engines with carbon fiber composite structures. Also developing the medium-lift MLV in partnership with Northrop Grumman.
From SpaceNexus's launch tracker (tracked since Apr 29, 2025); outcomes recorded as each flight lands. Career totals above are the vehicle's full history.
| Height | 29 m |
| Diameter | 1.82 m |
| Liftoff mass | 54,000 kg |
| Stages | 2 |
| Engines | 4x Reaver 1 + 1x Lightning 1 |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX |
| Fairing diameter | 2 m |
| Payload to LEO | 1,030 kg |
| Payload to GTO | — |
| Payload to SSO | 630 kg |
| Payload to TLI | — |
| Reusable | No |
| First flight | 2021-09-02 |
| Last flight | Active |
| Variants seen on the manifest | Firefly Alpha, Firefly Alpha Block 2 |
A dedicated Firefly Alpha launch lists at roughly $15 million, about $14,563 per kilogram to low Earth orbit at full payload. Actual contract prices vary with orbit, integration and government requirements.
The next tracked Firefly Alpha launch is INCUS on Oct 31, 2026, 00:00 UTC from Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA. Dates move; Mission Control carries the live countdown.
Firefly Alpha has flown 8 times with 6 successes, 1 failures and 1 partial failures — a 75% success rate, with 5 consecutive successes at last count.
1,030 kg to low Earth orbit, 630 kg to sun-synchronous orbit.