Satellite in the wrong orbit after successful Alpha rocket liftoff

Firefly Aerospace has launched an investigation into why its Alpha rocket failed to place a satellite in its planned orbit.

The rocket was launched on Friday at 12:32 p.m. EDT from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

A mission update released by Firefly late Friday night on the company’s website says the rocket’s second stage “did not deliver the payload to its precise target orbit.” However, communication with the spacecraft has been established and mission operations are now underway.

The launch, known as FLTA004 and titled “Fly the Lightning”, had a successful liftoff and progressed seamlessly through each stage of flight, including stage one main engine cutoff, stage separation, stage two ignition, and fairing separation.

The second stage of the Alpha rocket was scheduled to “relight” a second time some 40 minutes after launch. The company provided no information on what went wrong with the relighting of the second stage.

The rocket was carrying a wideband Electronically Steerable Antenna (ESA) satellite designed by Lockheed Martin. The ESA payload is designed to help perform missions in space faster once a satellite is in orbit.

Based on an innovative, proprietary design, Lockheed Martin expects to calibrate the ESA sensor in a fraction of the time it takes to operationalize traditional on-orbit sensors, which historically can take months to be powered on, fully calibrated, and ready to perform their mission.

It's unknown how the mission will be affected after being placed in the wrong orbit.

“Firefly recognizes all that went into the preparation of the payload and would like to thank Lockheed Martin for their continued support,” FireFly said on their website. “In line with our core principles as a company, we will rapidly and continuously innovate to find a solution and ensure complete resolution of any anomaly we see during flight. We will work with our customer and government partners to investigate the stage two performance and determine the root cause.”

This was the fourth launch of an Alpha rocket by FireFly Aerospace.

A launch in October 2022 successfully placed a few small satellites into orbit. Known as smallsats, the satellites fell back to Earth and burned up in the atmosphere after reaching a lower orbit than planned.

The first Alpha launch in September 2021 failed to reach orbit after its first-stage engines shut down shortly after liftoff. 

DEA contract documents provide look inside Aviation Division

The mission of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is to enforce the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States and to bring to the criminal and civil justice systems those organizations and individuals involved in the growing, manufacturing, or distribution of controlled substances appearing in or destined for illicit traffic in the U.S. and its territories. The DEA's mission responsibilities are worldwide.

On Friday, the DEA released a Sources Sought contract document to find a contractor to handle maintenance on the agency's aircraft within the Aviation Division.

The Aviation Division’s role is to provide total aviation support to Field Divisions and other law enforcement agencies in all aspects of drug law enforcement. The provision of a total aviation support system will ensure that the security and integrity of all flight-related systems and support functions are maintained.

In addition to domestic operations, the DEA Aviation Division operates outside the United States in cooperation with individual host countries, and as such, conducts flight missions the nature of which vary from country to country.

Background

The Aviation Division’s mission includes, but is not limited to, aerial surveillance, intelligence gathering, flight training, special operations, cargo delivery, personnel transport, and administrative and maintenance operations.

“The DEA has no spare aircraft for mission support during maintenance events; therefore, timely inspections, modifications, overhauls, and accurate diagnosis and repair of discrepancies are critical,” the agency said in contract documents.

The Aviation Division has historically flown approximately 29,000 hours annually, made approximately 4,100 purchases for aircraft maintenance, training and support, and completed approximately 350 annual training events.

The Aviation Division has 139 Special Agent/Pilot “positions.” How many positions are actually filled varies from year to year.

The division has historically performed approximately 1,200 maintenance events each year on aircraft.

DEA assets include a variety of commercial aircraft consisting of single and twin-turbine rotorcraft, as well as, single and twin-engine piston, single and twin turboprop, and twin-engine jet fixed wing platforms, many of which are modified and equipped with state-of-the-art, highly sophisticated sensor equipment and designed to facilitate detection and apprehension of violators.

DEA aviation operations are primarily spontaneous on demand with few if any, regularly scheduled missions.

The Aviation Division currently has a fleet of 109 aircraft; comprised of 81 fixed-wing and 28 rotor-wing. The average age of this fleet is approximately 20 years old. The aircraft include but are not limited to, an ATR-42, Challenger 601, Learjet 60, Beechcraft King Air 350, Cessna 401, 206, 206S, 208, and 210, McDonnell Douglass MD500D/E, Bell 206L3 and 412 and Airbus/Eurocopter AS-350B2 helicopters.

Scope Of Work

The Aviation Division’s mission is to provide tactical, technical, and administrative aviation support to enhance and enable DEA’s worldwide mission. These capabilities are critical to the DEA’s strategic goal of disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking. Such support includes air and ground surveillance, maritime surveillance, electronic surveillance, photographic reconnaissance, undercover operations, marijuana eradication, prisoner transport, and special helicopter operations for DEA’s global enforcement operations.

List of Aviation Division Work Sites in the U.S.

TEXAS:

•Fort Worth Aviation Operations Center Heavy/Depot Level Aircraft, Component and Special Mission

• Conroe

CALIFORNIA:

• Long Beach

FLORIDA:

• Fort Lauderdale

NEW JERSEY:

• Fairfield

List of Aviation Division Work Sites in Foreign Locations

• COLOMBIA: Bogota

• PERU: Lima

• PUERTO RICO: San Juan

Civil Air Patrol adds six Cessna aircraft to its fleet of nearly 550

Textron Aviation Inc. and the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) recently celebrated the delivery of four Cessna Skyhawks, one Cessna Skylane, and one Cessna Turbo Stationair HD aircraft in Independence, Kan. The aircraft will join a fleet of nearly 550 Cessna aircraft currently owned and operated by CAP.

In September, Textron Aviation was awarded a contract by CAP for the acquisition of 15 Cessna piston-engine aircraft. CAP agreed to purchase 14 Skyhawk 172S and one Skylane 182T aircraft.

“From search and rescue to disaster relief and homeland security, the missions CAP undertakes daily are as broad as their footprint across the U.S.,” said Bob Gibbs, vice president of Special Missions Sales at Textron.

As the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, CAP performs missions for government agencies, and as a non-profit organization, it also serves states and communities. In 2022, CAP flew more than 100,000 hours and saved 151 lives. The organization is the world’s largest Cessna piston aircraft operator.

Lufthansa orders a mix of Boeing and Airbus planes totaling 200

Lufthansa has ordered a total of 200 aircraft, 80 firm orders, and 120 options for Airbus A220s, Airbus A320neos, and Boeing 737 MAXs. The order is valued at $9 billion at list prices.

Focusing on the Boeing orders, Lufthansa Group announced Tuesday a landmark 737 MAX order for up to 100 jets that will see Europe's largest airline group restore the Boeing 737 family into its fleet. This commitment includes a firm order for 40 737-8 airplanes with 60 options.

"It is a good strategic decision for the Lufthansa Group to order Boeing 737 aircraft again for the first time since 1995," said Carsten Spohr, chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. "Around 60 years ago, Lufthansa was co-developer and launch customer of this globally successful model [the 737]. With the new modern, quiet, economical, and efficient 737-8 aircraft, we are making progress both in modernizing our short- and medium-haul fleet and in achieving our carbon CO2 reduction targets."

Boeing says the 737 MAX reduces CO2 emissions by 20% and has a 50% smaller noise footprint compared to older-generation airplanes.

"We are delighted to see the 737 return to an original launch customer's fleet," said Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Lufthansa launched the Boeing 737 in 1967, taking delivery of the first of 146 737s until its final delivery of a 737-300 in 1995. The airline retired its last 737 in 2016 as it started its group-wide fleet modernization program.

Lufthansa wide-body orders

The Lufthansa Group has placed a series of wide-body orders in recent years to accelerate the replacement of older airplanes. Its current backlog includes firm orders for 34 787 Dreamliners, seven 777-8 Freighters, and 20 777-9 airplanes.

Price upgrade for BA shares

The Lufthansa order may provide more fuel to the fire in the upward trend in Boeing’s stock. Market analysts say good news concerning the 737 MAX jet is driving the price higher.

News indicating improved delivery performance and the growing belief in its sustainability caused Deutsche Bank analyst Scott Deuschle to upgrade Boeing’s rating from Hold to Buy on Monday and bumped his price target up from $270 to $320. The new price target implies shares could gain another 22% in the months ahead.

On Tuesday, the pre-market price for Boeing (NYSE: BA) was up 0.30% ($0.79) at $261.20 per share.

Army Corps of Engineers seeks contractor to operate Metro 23 twin-turboprop aircraft

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in search of a contractor to operate their Metro 23 twin-turboprop aircraft.

“This is a non-personnel services contract to operate and maintain one government-owned Metro 23, SA 227 DC aircraft,” the Army said in contract documents released Friday. “The government shall not exercise any supervision or control over the contract service providers performing the services.”

The contractor shall provide all necessary personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, accessories, and equipment necessary to maintain, inspect, repair, alter, and operate the Fairchild Metro 23 aircraft (tail number N55CE, serial number 903).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, by Public Law 153, is authorized within its Civil Works Revolving Fund to operate and maintain aircraft. But Corps airplanes are operated and maintained under contract rather than with in-house labor.

The aircraft is based at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Neb., Bldg. 306, Hangar 2.

Also known as a C-26, the airplane operates approximately 550-600 hours per year primarily in the continental United States. “However, the aircraft and crew can be directed outside the continental United States as required to respond to emergency operations or water treaty issues,” the Army said. “It is estimated that as many as 60 days during one year could be spent away from home base, requiring lodging and subsistence expenses.”

Office space for eight operating personnel is provided on Offutt at no expense to the contractor.

The contract will be for one base year with three one-year optional periods.

First A220 jet for Qantas delivered in Aboriginal artwork

Australia’s national carrier Qantas has taken delivery of its first new generation A220, becoming the 20th operator of the aircraft. This is the first of 29 A220s ordered by the Qantas Group for operation by QantasLink, their regional airline that services metropolitan and regional destinations across Australia.

Featuring a unique livery based on Aboriginal artwork, the aircraft will depart the Airbus final assembly line in Mirabel in the coming days for a delivery flight to Sydney, with stops in Vancouver, Honolulu, and Nadi.

The A220 will gradually replace the existing Boeing 717 fleet at QantasLink. Flying twice as far, the A220 can connect any two points across Australia non-stop, while also bringing a significant 25% reduction in fuel consumption and carbon emissions compared to previous-generation aircraft.

The A220 also has the largest cabin, seats, and windows in its class, offering passengers superior comfort. With a total of 137 seats, Qantas’ A220s will be configured in a two-class layout seating, 10 passengers in business and 127 in economy.

Powered by the latest generation Pratt & Whitney GTF engines, it can fly up to 3,450 nautical miles or 6,390 kilometers non-stop.

Airbus has received close to 850 orders from 30 customers for the A220, of which over 300 have been delivered worldwide.