Firefly Alpha returns to flight

WASHINGTON — Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket successfully returned to flight March 11, launching a technology demonstration mission more than 10 months after the rocket's previous launch failed.

Alpha lifted off at 8:50 p.m. Eastern from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The company had scrubbed launch attempts of the "Stairway to Seven" mission the previous two days because of minor technical issues.

The vehicle's two stages performed as planned, including a later relight of the second-stage engine. The company did not disclose the planned or actual orbit achieved by the vehicle, but the webcast showed the rocket had reached an altitude of about 245 kilometers at the time the second-stage engine shut down as scheduled about eight minutes after liftoff.