Firefly Aerospace will attempt the maiden flight of its Alpha booster later today from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The window for the rideshare mission extends from 6 to 10 p.m. PDT (0100-0500 UTC on Friday). A livestream of the launch will be available through Everyday Astronaut beginning one hour before the scheduled liftoff.
The rideshare mission will carry a number of payloads, which are show below.
| Payload | Purpose | Company/ Organization | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|
| DREAM | CubeSat deployer | Firefly | USA |
| BSS1 (DFAST Demonstrator) | Technology demonstration | Benchmark Space | USA |
| CRESST DREAM COMET | Technology demonstration | University of Cambridge | UK |
| Firefly Capsule 1 | Education | Firefly | USA |
| FOSSASAT 1b | LoRa communications | FOSSA Systems | Spain |
| FOSSASAT 2 | Photography | FOSSA Systems | Spain |
| GENESIS L | Amateur radio/Propulsion | AMSAT-EA | Spain |
| GENESIS N | Amateur radio/Propulsion | AMSAT-EA | Spain |
| Hiapo | Thermospheric research | Hawaii Science and Technology Museum | USA |
| NPS-CENETIX-Orbital 1 | Technology demonstration | AT&T / NPS | USA |
| PICOBUS-1 | PocketQube deployer | Libre Space Foundation | Greece |
| QUBIK 1 | Amateur radio | Libre Space Foundation | Greece |
| QUBIK 2 | Amateur radio | Libre Space Foundation | Greece |
| Spinnaker3 | Technology demonstration | Purdue University | USA |
| TIS Serenity | Education | Teachers in Space, Inc. | USA |
Source: Wikipedia
The two-stage, 29 meter (95 foot) tall Alpha booster is capable of delivery one metric ton (2,205 lb) to low Earth orbit and 630 kg (1,389 lb) to a 500 km (311 mile) high sun-synchronous orbit. Firefly is charging $15 million for a dedicated launch.