New rocket, Firefly's Alpha, may be ready to launch by April
ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Texas-based Firefly Aerospace plans to launch its new Alpha rocket from California in April and send a lunar lander to the moon by 2023.
The 95-foot-high launch vehicle is designed to lift satellite payloads that weigh just over a ton into low-Earth orbit, or slightly lighter loads to a higher orbit.
Firefly has existed for only four years, and would join a small, but growing, group of private companies that can reach space with their own rockets, including SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Virgin Orbit and Astra.
But Firefly is positioned to beat the competition because it plans to offer rockets, spacecraft to service satellites and even lunar landers, CEO Tom Markusic said in an interview this week.
Read more: https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2021/02/26/New-rocket-Fireflys-Alpha-may-be-ready-to-launch-by-April/5321614205867/