INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Rocket launch startup Firefly Aerospace has signed a new agreement with Satlantis, a maker of Earth observation and remote sensing payloads
for satellite-based operation
Firefly will launch a constellation of small satellites on behalf of Satlantis that will provide high-res, multispectral imaging of Earth
from low Earth orbit.Firefly is still in the development and testing phase of their first launch vehicle, the Alpha rocket and spacecraft
The company intends to fly Alpha for the first time sometime this year, and the agreement signed today with Satlantis specifies a 2022 time
frame for the mission.Alpha is a two-stage rocket that uses a carbon composite material for its primary construction
tests of its engine with the vehicle vertical early in 2020, but it did encounter a setback at the end of January with a fire on the launch
platform following the first of these tests
Firefly said the fire was due to a fuel leak, but continues work on Alpha and Firefly
