Video shows dramatic Alpha rocket explosion as Firefly Aerospace preps vehicle for launch Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY October 1, 2025 at 9:59 PM 0 A violent rocket explosion in Texas recently sent a cascade of fire and plumes of billowing smoke into the air that was captured on video.
- - Video shows dramatic Alpha rocket explosion as Firefly Aerospace preps vehicle for launch
Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY October 1, 2025 at 9:59 PM
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A violent rocket explosion in Texas recently sent a cascade of fire and plumes of billowing smoke into the air that was captured on video.
Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket blew up in dramatic fashion while the company was testing and preparing the spacecraft in late September at its central Texas facility for an impending launch from the West Coast. But things didn't exactly go to plan when the rocket's booster stage was destroyed during the preflight trial, which took place Monday, Sept. 29, in Briggs, Texas.
No injuries were reported.
The explosion is the latest setback for Firefly – which made headlines earlier in 2025 for a pivotal moon landing – after the Alpha rocket experienced another failure in April during flight from California.
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Here's what to know about Firefly Aerospace and its latest "mishap" with its Alpha rocket.
Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket explodes on test stand in Texas
A preflight test in Texas did not go according to plan for Firefly Aerospace on September 29, when the first stage of its Alpha rocket exploded in dramatic fashion.
The first stage of Firefly Aerospace's 96-foot-tall Alpha rocket exploded Monday, Sept. 29, while the spacecraft was vertical on a test stand.
The resulting fireball and smoke column were captured by a CCTV camera at an auto parts business near Firefly's facility in Briggs, Texas, about 50 miles north of Austin.
Classified as a small-lift launch vehicle capable of carrying more than 2,200 pounds of cargo, the Alpha rocket was being prepared for an upcoming launch for Lockheed Martin from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
"Proper safety protocols were followed, and all personnel are safe," Firefly said in an update on the mission blog. "The company is assessing the impact to its stage test stand, and no other facilities were impacted."
The company stressed that regular tests, even those that end in failure, provide data that helps engineers "improve our designs and build a more reliable system."
What is Firefly Aerospace? Company made 2025 moon landing
Firefly's Blue Ghost lander captured its first sunrise on the moon after landing Sunday, marking the beginning of the lunar day and the start of about two weeks of surface operations. Mission controllers from Texas will remotely operate 10 NASA payloads aboard the lander to test the moon's environment.
Firefly Aerospace is a commercial spaceflight company in Cedar Park, Texas, that develops small- and medium-lift launch vehicles for orbital missions.
Firefly made a name for itself earlier in 2025 when its Blue Ghost lunar lander became the second-ever commercial spacecraft to make it to the surface of the moon.
After launching Jan. 15, 2025, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the spacecraft managed to touch down about six weeks later on March 3 on the moon's Earth-facing side on a mission to deploy 10 NASA science instruments. The ensuing 14 days of surface operations were meant to help the U.S. space agency pave the way for humans to return in the years ahead under its Artemis program.
Firefly's Alpha rocket had another 'mishap' in April
The explosion is the latest setback for Firefly's Alpha rocket, a part of which on April 29 crashed into the Pacific Ocean during a mission to launch a prototype satellite owned by Lockheed Martin into orbit from California.
The rocket's sixth flight overall, the mission was to be the first of a planned 25 launches in the next five years under an agreement between Firefly and Lockheed Martin.
Engineers believe the problem occurred during separation of Alpha's core stage booster with its second stage less than three minutes into the flight from the Vandenberg Space Force Base. The faulty separation "impacted the Stage 2 Lightning engine nozzle, putting the vehicle in a lower than planned orbit," Firefly wrote on social media site X.
Firefly said the loss of the nozzle reduced the engine's thrust, preventing the upper stage from reaching orbit and causing it to crash into the Pacific Ocean north of Antarctica with the Lockheed satellite.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Firefly Aerospace rocket explodes on test stand in Texas. See video
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