The Starbase facility in South Texas is on the cusp of becoming a municipality as SpaceX moves forward with its development plans. Meanwhile, Firefly Aerospace encountered another setback with its two-stage Alpha rocket, which failed to deploy an experimental satellite into orbit for Lockheed Martin.
Firefly’s Alpha rocket was launched from California early Tuesday, but experienced issues about 2.5 minutes after liftoff. The booster stage jettisoned prematurely, and a bright cloud of white vapor appeared in the sky, suggesting an explosion. Firefly released a statement acknowledging a “mishap during first stage separation” that affected the Stage 2 Lightning engine nozzle.
This incident marks the Alpha rocket’s sixth launch, with just two unqualified successes to its name. Two prior launches deployed their payloads in lower-than-planned orbits, and the rocket’s debut test flight in 2021 failed shortly after liftoff. Firefly is one of the few US launch companies with rockets that have reached low-Earth orbit, but its Alpha program remains plagued by reliability issues.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/05/rocket-report-starbase-the-city-is-coming-soon-alpha-remains-in-beta