This Week in Launch: Firefly back in the loop

After an abnormal lull in SpaceX launches last week due to weather and technical delays, that could change this week with a handful of Falcon 9 missions before the Christmas weekend. Firefly is back with another launch of its Alpha rocket this week, following the success of its VICTUS NOX mission in September.

This week’s launches:

• December 18 (Monday)
  • SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink Group 6-34, 11:00 P.M. ET
    • SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
• December 19
  • Blue Origin New Shepard NS-24, 10:37 A.M. CT
    • Launch Site One, Van Horne, Texas
• December 20 (Wednesday)
  • Firefly Alpha Fly the Lightning, 8:48 A.M. PT
    • SLC-2W, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
• December 21 (Thursday)
  • SpaceX Falcon 9 SARah 2 & 3, 4:56 A.M. PT
    • SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
• December 22 (Friday)
  • SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink Group 6-32, 11:00 P.M. ET
    • SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

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Blue Origin scrubs Monday’s launch attempt

We expected to see Blue Origin return to flight with its New Shepard rocket early Monday morning. This mission has been delayed due to a technical issue with the ground equipment. In the brief social media update, Blue Origin states that “the team is troubleshooting” whatever went wrong. The company later announced a launch date for tomorrow, December 29, at 10:37 A.M. CT.

According to the FAA’s Temporary Flight Restriction database, Blue Origin has two more opportunities to launch NS-24 this week, tomorrow and Wednesday. Both TFRs open at 7:30 A.M. CT and run through 3:30 P.M. CT. Usually New Shepard launches have taken place early in the morning and get pushed back a day long before they move into afternoon hours.

NS-24 is the first launch of a New Shepard rocket since NS-23 all the way back in September 2022. During that mission the booster’s BE-3 engine failed after a hot spot burned through the engine bell and pushed the rocket sideways. We then got the answer that yes, the launch abort system inside the New Shepard capsule is in place and armed for even uncrewed flights as it was triggered during Max-Q, the peak point of aerodynamic pressure on the rocket.

NS-24 will reportedly refly some experiments that flew on NS-23 as well as more post cards from Club for the Future, Blue Origin’s stem education charity.

Firefly back at it again with another Alpha launch

Another company that we haven’t seen a lot of this year, Firefly, is also launching this week. Alpha will be launching its fourth mission with a tech demo from Lockheed Martin onboard.

This mission is a big one for the company as its first launch post its first 100% successful mission. Marking another tally in the success category will mean great things for the overall stature of the company in the market that it is no longer a rocket in development, but a real product that works.

The flight will take place like previous missions out in California at Vandenberg Space Force Base. It is one of two missions from the base this week, a rather rare occurrence for a spaceport that usually only sees a handful of missions a year.

SpaceX plans to change that next year with launches expected once a week and then building up to to launch every two to three days. The days of Vandenberg being a quiet launch site might just be behind it.