Alpha's fourth flight leaves a Lockheed Martin satellite in the wrong orbit after an upper-stage relight fails

Firefly Aerospace/Alpha

Firefly's Alpha completed its fourth launch on December 22, 2023, with the first stage nominal but the second stage failed to relight as planned. Lockheed Martin's Electronically Steerable Antenna technology demonstrator was left in a lower orbit than intended.

• Fourth Alpha flight (FLTA004 'Fly the Lightning') from Vandenberg on 22 December; carried Lockheed Martin ESA tech demonstrator.
• First stage burn and separation nominal; second stage failed to complete its relight burn, leaving payload in lower orbit.
• Both stage 2 reignition attempts failed; Lockheed's payload remained in a degraded orbit, though mission teams assessed available options.