| Item 7.01 |
Regulation FD Disclosure |
On August 26, 2025, Firefly Aerospace Inc. (the “Company”) issued the following statement on its website:
Alpha FLTA006 Update
Firefly Aerospace has received
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) clearance to resume Alpha rocket launches following the Flight 6 mishap on April 29, 2025.
The company
conducted a thorough investigation with the FAA and in parallel assembled an Independent Review Board of multiple government agencies, customers, and industry experts. The findings confirmed Firefly’s flight safety system performed nominally
through all phases of flight. Both Alpha stages landed safely in the Pacific Ocean, and the launch posed no risk to public safety.
Alpha Flight 6 lifted
off and ascended nominally through stage separation. Alpha’s first stage then experienced a rupture milliseconds after stage separation. The pressure wave hit Alpha’s second stage, leading to the loss of the engine’s nozzle
extension and substantially reducing stage two thrust. The second stage was able to recover attitude control and continued to ascend to an altitude of 320 km until running out of propellant. The vehicle was three seconds short of achieving orbital
velocity and five seconds short of the target payload deployment orbit.
The ground-based video, onboard telemetry, post-flight empirical testing and
Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis corroborated excessive heat from Plume Induced Flow Separation as the most probable root cause of the mishap. Alpha Flight 6 flew a higher angle of attack than prior missions. Plume-induced flow separation
intensified heat on the leeward side reducing structural margins, causing the booster to rupture from stage separation induced loads.
Fortunately, the
corrective actions are straight forward: increase thermal protection system thickness on Stage 1 and reduce angle of attack during key phases of the flight. Corrective actions have already been implemented.
“At Firefly, technical challenges aren’t roadblocks — they’re catalysts,” said Jordi Paredes Garcia, Alpha Chief Engineer at
Firefly Aerospace. “Each mission provides us with more data and enables us to continuously improve. Following all the lessons learned and corrective actions implemented, we were able to further increase Alpha’s reliability. We are
grateful to the FAA, our customers and the independent review board for their continued support through this process.”
With FAA approval to return
to flight and corrective actions implemented, Firefly is now working to determine the next available launch window for Alpha Flight 7.
Forward-Looking
Statements
This communication contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain
words such as “may,” “will,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “would,” “intends,” “believes,” or the negative of these words or
other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans, or intentions. These statements are based on management’s current expectations, assumptions, and beliefs concerning future developments, which are inherently
subject to uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Therefore, we cannot assure you that the events reflected in the forward-looking statements will occur, and actual events could differ materially from those
described in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date as of which such statement is made, and except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking
statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise.
