UPDATE (Saturday, Feb. 28) – Firefly is now aiming to launch Alpha Flight 7 no earlier than Sunday, March 1, with the same launch window.
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(Friday, Feb. 27, 2026) – Firefly Aerospace is planning to launch an Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday.
The two-hour launch window opens at 4:50 p.m. on Feb. 28.
In a post on X, Firefly said it is working with Vandenberg to monitor upper-level winds ahead of the launch.
The launch will be streamed live starting 20 minutes before liftoff:
This will be the seventh Alpha rocket launch. The company says its goals for the launch are to “achieve nominal first and second stage performance” and “test and validate key subsystems ahead of Alpha’s Block II upgrade on Flight 8.”
For its upcoming eighth flight, Firefly will be reconfiguring the Alpha rocket by increasing its length by seven feet, consolidating batteries and avionics, and improving the thermal protection system. Firefly says the new configuration will improve reliability, streamline production, and improve launch operations “to further support commercial, civil, and national security mission demand.”
Flight 7 will be a test for some of these upgrades.
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