Artist’s rendition of Firefly Alpha. Photo: Firefly Space Systems

Firefly Aerospace, a developer of orbital launch vehicles for the small to medium satellite market, has announced that the United States Air Force (USAF) has issued a “Statement of Support for the Firefly Aerospace Program, Alpha and Beta launch vehicles” to use Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W) for future launches of the Firefly Alpha and Beta launch vehicles. SLC-2W has been used for Delta, Thor-Agena, and Delta 2 launches.

“Converting an active government launch site to commercial operation is substantially less complex and costly than the greenfield development of a new launch site, saving Firefly years of facility development and substantial capex dollars. This enables Firefly to stay on track for Alpha’s first flight by the third quarter of 2019 and ramp up to monthly launches by the end of 2020,” said Firefly’s Director of Launch, Brad Obrocto.

Tom Markusic, Firefly CEO added: “Firefly Aerospace is greatly appreciative that NASA and the USAF support the transition of SLC-2W to a commercial launch site dedicated to the launch of Firefly vehicles. SLC-2W has been an incredible asset for U.S. space missions for over 50 years. We are humbled and honored that Firefly Alpha and Beta launch vehicles will be adding many successful missions to the already storied history of SLC-2W.”