Vandenberg SFB hosting Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha Flight 7 test flight Monday evening
VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. (KEYT) – Vandenberg Space Force Base will host a test flight of Firefly Aerospace's Alpha Flight 7 from Space Launch Complex 2 between 5:50 p.m. and 7:50 p.m. on Monday, March 9, 2026.
A livestream of Monday's launch, cohosted with NASASpaceflight, will begin about twenty minutes before liftoff and can be found here.
According to Firefly Aerospace, the Alpha Flight 7, also known as the 'Stairway to Seven' mission, will serve as the final test flight in the rocket's current configuration, known as Block I, and validate multiple Block II systems in shadow mode before the full upgrade.
"In addition to supporting customer objectives, Firefly is utilizing Flight 7 as an opportunity to test key systems ahead of the full Block II upgrade on Flight 8," explained Adam Oakes, Vice President of Launches at Firefly Aerospace. "This approach allows us to accelerate our planned Block II timeline and validate the improvements designed to enable more mass savings, optimize production, and increase reliability across the entire Alpha vehicle. Our flight-proven Reaver and Lightning engines and carbon composite structures continue to be the backbone of this rocket, so that core technology doesn’t change."
The Block II upgrade is intended to expand the Alpha rocket's launch capabilities to hypersonic testing and national security missions as well as commercial satellite launches for customers around the world.
The future configuration will add seven feet to the rocket's length as well as the following improvements:
- Strengthened carbon composite structures
- Enhanced thermal protection system for liquid oxygen and RP-1 tank, which stores rocket-grade kerosene, configurations for improved stage burn time
- Consolidated in-house manufactured batteries and avionic system
Monday's test will include those new avionics systems and thermal protection improvements on the Block I configuration noted Firefly Aerospace.
Following a ground test in late September of last year, Firefly identified a process error that caused a small hydrocarbon contamination which caused a combustion event in one of the engines explained the aerospace company.
The test stand structure remained intact during the event and no other facilities were impacted, but the detected error was the catalyst for changes to the current Alpha Flight 7 rocket ahead of Monday's test launch.
"This incident was not caused by a design issue, but rather a process error during a routine integration," noted Chief Engineer Jordi Paredes Garcia with Firefly Aerospace. "As launch providers, our industry recognizes the impact even the smallest of errors can have, and that’s why at Firefly we rigorously test before we fly. Looking ahead, we are fully committed to staying diligent as a team and finding innovative ways to improve our processes daily."
According to Firefly, the team integrated the upgrades ahead of a Monday's final Block I configuration test launch.
"The Block II upgrade has been part of Firefly’s strategic growth plan to meet the evolving needs of the growing global launch market and further supports Firefly’s culture of continuous improvement with a focus on enhanced safety, quality, and reliability," said CEO Jason Kim of Firefly Aerospace. "Firefly worked closely with customers and incorporated data and lessons learned from our first six Alpha launches and hundreds of hardware tests to make upgrades that increase reliability and manufacturability with consolidated parts, key configuration updates, and stronger structures built with automated machinery."
