Firefly Aerospace to launch at Wallops Island

Cedar Park, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace has picked Virginia Spaceport Authority’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport located on Accomack County’s Wallops Island as a new launch site for its two-stage orbital Alpha rocket, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday. 

A small launch vehicle, the Alpha serves commercial, civil and national security clients and can carry 2,200 pounds to low earth orbit.

Founded in 2017, Firefly has launched the Alpha four times from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base. A fifth launch, scheduled for Wednesday, is also set for the former air force base. Firefly plans to begin launching Alpha from Virginia in 2025. 

Additionally, Firefly expects to later launch from Wallops the medium launch vehicle (MLV) it’s designing with Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman. The MLV can carry more than 35,000 pounds to low Earth orbit.

“Firefly is committed to establishing a regular on-demand launch service and serving our customers’ growing responsive space needs, and that requires operating a diverse set of launch sites,” Bill Weber, CEO of Firefly Aerospace, said in a company press release distributed Monday. “Virginia Spaceport Authority further sets us up for success by enabling a streamlined approach to launching both Alpha and MLV from one location at [the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport] with minimal congestion from the broader launch market.”

Firefly also plans to operate a launch control center, horizontal integration facility and administrative office space on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, according to the company’s press release.

Firefly plans to launch the Alpha four times in 2024 and six times in 2025. By 2026, the company plans to have monthly Alpha launches. 

Firefly’s first launch of Alpha in September 2021 exploded in mid-air. The October 2022 launch, however, successfully reached orbit. In September 2023, Firefly launched Alpha and deployed a satellite 27 hours after launch orders were issued, according to the U.S. Space Force, setting a new record for responsive space launch.

The fourth Alpha launch in December 2023 carried a payload for Lockheed Martin.  A software problem caused the rocket to deploy a satellite to the wrong orbit. 

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is located on NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. Virginia Spaceport Authority leases from NASA the land for the launch pads and other facilities. 

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport offers three launch pads, with a fourth under construction, as well as a payload processing facility. California-based Rocket Lab announced in February 2022 that it had selected Wallops Island as the location for its launch site and a new manufacturing and assembly complex for its new, reusable Neutron rocket.