Large piece of carbon fiber from the Firefly Alpha, a two-stage orbital expendable launch vehicle launched by American aerospace company Firefly Aerospace from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on September 3, 2021. An anomaly occurred between two and three minutes after liftoff, resulting in complete loss of the vehicle. The piece of the wreckage measures 13″ x 4″ and features a smooth side with woven carbon fiber, and a rough side with two pins (perhaps embedded sensors or structural attachments) covered by an insulating material.
The Alpha vehicle wields 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) payload capability to low Earth orbit and 600 kg (1,300 lb) to Sun-synchronous orbit, with a projected launch cost of $15 million per launch. Designed to compete with vehicles like the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the Alpha utilizes Reaver-1 and Lightning-1 engines and a lightweight carbon composite structure to reduce launch weight, resulting in improved payload fraction.
Attested to as being flown by the consignor.
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