"The deciding factor was what we felt like was the team's impact to humanity."
"Even though the Falcon 9 is the most used rocket of the world, and groundbreaking in its reuse capabilities, SpaceX is actively seeking to make it obsolete with the Starship program."
"Firefly Aerospace plans to debut the upgraded version of its Alpha rocket late this summer, Space News reports. In a May 4 earnings call about the company's first-quarter financial results, Jason Kim, chief executive of Firefly, confirmed the company was moving ahead with the Alpha Block 2 rocket after a successful return to flight of the original version of the vehicle in March."
"The company announced the Block 2 version of Alpha in January, with stretched first and second stages and upgrades to avionics, batteries, and its thermal protection system. The company said the upgrades were intended to improve the reliability of the vehicle, which suffered two failures and two partial failures in its first six launches."
SpaceX remains a disruptive launch provider despite Falcon 9 becoming the most used rocket and demonstrating reuse. The Starship program is intended to make Falcon 9 obsolete and shift the industry toward a new era of flight. Firefly Aerospace plans to debut an upgraded Alpha rocket late this summer after a successful return to flight in March. The Alpha Block 2 version features stretched first and second stages plus upgrades to avionics, batteries, and thermal protection to improve reliability after multiple failures in early launches. Firefly expects additional launches after Flight 8, while specific customer details were not disclosed.
Read at Ars Technica
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