Firefly Aerospace is preparing its Alpha small satellite launcher for a flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Alpha FLTA006 mission, named “Message In A Booster,” is scheduled to launch on Sunday, April 27, at 6:37 AM PDT (13:37 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W) at the start of a 52-minute launch window.
Message In A Booster will fly on a southern trajectory out of Vandenberg, carrying a Lockheed Martin LM400 satellite bus into a polar orbit. With this mission serving as a demonstration flight, Lockheed Martin plans to offer the LM400 as a multi-mission satellite bus for commercial, civil, and military uses. This flight, Firefly’s second for Lockheed Martin, is also the first of up to 25 missions in Firefly’s multi-launch agreement with Lockheed Martin that was reached in 2024.
Using RP-1 and liquid oxygen as propellants, the four Reaver engines on Alpha’s first stage will ignite at T-2 seconds. Following a final confirmation that all vehicle systems are go, Alpha will liftoff and reach maximum aerodynamic pressure, or Max Q, at T+1:06 minutes. Main engine cutoff (MECO) is set to occur at T+2:33 minutes, with stage separation coming four seconds later and the ignition of the upper stage Lightning engine shortly after. The launch sequence will conclude with payload separation at T+12:42 minutes.
Alpha is capable of flying up to 1,030 kg to low-Earth orbit (LEO), or 630 kg to a 500 km altitude Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Lockheed Martin describes the LM400 as a “mid-sized” satellite bus, with a volume comparable to that of a home refrigerator, and the capability to host a 1,100 kg payload. Given this flight’s destination in a polar orbit, the LM400’s payload is going to be constrained, although it is likely to be the heaviest payload Alpha has launched to date.
The LM400 multi-mission satellite bus is designed to operate in LEO, medium-Earth orbit (MEO), and geosynchronous orbit. The bus can be used in either single or multi-satellite launch configurations and will have the ability to be launched on multiple rockets. LM400 is designed to support up to six satellites in a single launch stack, arranged in a configuration similar to Starlink satellites on SpaceX missions.
Alpha FLTA006 flight profile. (Credit: Firefly Aerospace)
This bus was also designed to support onboard data processing using a Lockheed Martin software-defined satellite architecture that conforms to a modular, open systems architecture. This enables interoperability with systems deployed by all United States military services.
Lockheed Martin states that the LM400 can support various mission types, including remote sensing, imagery, radar observation, and communications, with the demo mission on Alpha featuring a communications payload. The company has also developed an electronically steered array that is compatible with this bus, and it will be flown on this mission.
The LM400 is designed for mass production in large numbers, and a rapid production line is being implemented at a 266,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Waterton, Colorado, near Denver. The bus is being pitched as a solution for satellite constellations, with several contracts already secured, including one from the U.S. Space Force for its MEO Missile Track Custody program.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is moving toward operating constellations of smaller satellites — a prime example being Starshield, a military constellation based on SpaceX’s Starlink satellites — for resilience and redundancy in the face of potential threats to satellites in orbit. Lockheed Martin is one of the U.S.’s primary military contractors, and the LM400, though capable of supporting civil and commercial missions, was designed to support military standards.
The LM400 demo payload being encapsulated in its payload fairing before ahead of its mating to Alpha. (Credit: Firefly Aerospace)
Message In A Bottle will serve as Alpha’s first launch of 2025. Alpha’s next flight, the to-be-named FLTA007 mission, is currently planned to be the first flight of Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicle. FLTA007 will also be a “responsive space” mission, meaning the time between the flight’s order and launch will be accelerated to be as short as possible. Alpha launched the Victus Nox responsive space mission in 2023, and Firefly has offered this capability to the DOD for similar flights.
Although Alpha has launched only out of SLC-2W at Vandenberg, other launch sites are being developed for the rocket. A launch facility at the Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, is currently being developed to host Alpha flights. Flights from Wallops are scheduled to begin in 2026 with NASA’s INCUS mission.
South of Wallops, Space Launch Complex 20 (SLC-20) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida is another future launch site for Alpha. A facility is also being prepared in Esrange, Sweden, to support missions for Firefly’s European customers. The Esrange facility is also expected to be ready in 2026.
Alpha has flown five flights so far, with its first flight failing to reach orbit. The four other flights have all reached orbit, with two full successes and two partial successes. The company has encountered issues with restarting its Lightning second stage engine in orbit. Message In A Bottle will see Lightning complete only a single burn during its ascent to orbit.
The FLTA006 Alpha being mounted on the pad prior to its successful static fire in early March. (Credit: Firefly Aerospace)
As Alpha continues to fly missions, Firefly is working on its upcoming Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) rocket in cooperation with Northrop Grumman, which is working on a new version of the Antares launch vehicle that will utilize the MLV’s first stage. Firefly currently has up to six missions planned for Alpha in 2025.
NASASpaceflight is providing launch livestream production services for Firefly Flight A006.
(Lead image: Alpha’s encapsulated payload fairing with the LM400 bus arrives at SLC-2W ahead of launch. Credit: Firefly Aerospace)
