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Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket to be launched on Sept 3
KYIV. Sept 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The American company – developer of rocket and space technology Firefly Aerospace Inc., owned by Ukrainian businessman Max Polyakov, plans to send its Alpha rocket into space from the U.S. Space Forces base Vandenberg (California) on September 3, the launch window will be open from 04:00 until 08:00 a.m. Kyiv time.
The press service of the company said the launch of the rocket can be watched live on the YouTube channel "Max Polyakov & Noosphere." The broadcast will be conducted in Ukrainian and English.
Earlier it was reported that Firefly Aerospace successfully completed the final ground test of the Alpha launch vehicle prior to launch.
The Alpha rocket has been developed by the company since 2014 and belongs to the light class of launch vehicles. In 2017, after Max Polyakov acquired and restarted Firefly Aerospace, he also made a number of technical changes to the design of the rocket, increasing its payload from 400 to 1,000 kg.
According to the company, Alpha is one of the largest light-class rockets: its height is 29 m, diameter is 1.8 m, and the fairing diameter is 2 m. The two-stage rocket is made of composite materials and is equipped with four Reaver-1 liquid engines (first stage) and one Lightning 1 engine (second stage). The Alpha rocket is strong and relatively light, so it can put up to 1 tonne of payload into orbit.
As part of its debut launch, the Alpha rocket will launch into orbit the academic and educational projects of the winners of the specialized DREAM program aimed at promoting the exact sciences (STEM – science, technology, engineering, mathematics). Among the program participants, 26 projects from seven countries were selected, including children’s drawings and satellites from the best universities and non-profit organizations from around the world.