{"id":23588,"date":"2026-02-17T00:25:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T16:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/launch-preview-firefly-to-launch-alpha-spacex-to-launch-three-starlink-missions\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T00:25:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T16:25:54","slug":"launch-preview-firefly-to-launch-alpha-spacex-to-launch-three-starlink-missions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/launch-preview-firefly-to-launch-alpha-spacex-to-launch-three-starlink-missions\/","title":{"rendered":"Launch Preview: Firefly to launch Alpha, SpaceX to launch three Starlink missions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After a brief grounding earlier this month following the Starlink Group 17-32 second stage deorbit anomaly, SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 returns to a regular cadence of flights with three Starlink missions this week. However, SpaceX is not the only U.S. launch provider flying this week, as Firefly Space is returning its Alpha to flight following the failed \u201cMessage In A Booster\u201d mission in April 2025.<\/p>\n<p>This week\u2019s flights are scheduled from California and Florida, with Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California hosting Starlink and Firefly launches. Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida will host Falcon 9 Starlink launches while Launch Complex 39A at the nearby Kennedy Space Center has had its crew access arm removed and is being prepared for Starship launches later this year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Starlink 6-103\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/92mWUeQCT4k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid0\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-103<\/p>\n<p>The first launch of the week flew from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the CCSFS in Florida on Monday, Feb. 16, at 2:59 AM EST (07:59 UTC), within a four-hour window that ended at 4:00 AM EST (09:00 UTC). Falcon 9 launched the Starlink Group 6-103 mission to low-Earth orbit (LEO), placing 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into a 257 by 271-km initial parking orbit inclined 43 degrees.<\/p>\n<p>Falcon booster B1090 launched on a southeast trajectory and landed atop SpaceX\u2019s <em>A Shortfall of Gravitas<\/em> droneship in the Atlantic. This mission served as B1090\u2019s 10th mission, having previously flown the O3b mPOWER 7 &amp; 8, Crew-10, Bandwagon-3, O3b mPOWER 9 &amp; 10, CRS-33, and four Starlink missions.<\/p>\n<p>As SpaceX adds to the Starlink constellation, the service recently announced it now has 10 million subscribers. Southwest Airlines will now also offer Starlink Wi-Fi on many of its planes, joining the ranks of air carriers that have adopted the satellite broadband service due to its worldwide reach and speed.<\/p>\n<p>Space Shuttle models<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>Spaceflight history books<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>Space tourism guides<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>\n<p>     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Starlink 10-36\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5C-ojFRB7BY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid1\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-36<\/p>\n<p>The second Falcon 9 launch of the week is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 18, from SLC-40 at 5:00 PM EST (22:00 UTC). The four-hour launch window for Starlink Group 10-36 lasts until 9:00 PM EST on Feb. 18 (02:00 UTC on Feb. 19).<\/p>\n<p>Flying on its 27th mission, booster B1077 will take a southeast trajectory and land on <em>Just Read the Instructions<\/em> in Bahamian waters. B1077\u2019s career started with the Crew-5 flight, and the booster would go on to fly the GPS III SV06, Inmarsat I-6 F2, CRS-28, Galaxy 37, CRS NG-20, Optus-X, and 18 Starlink missions.<\/p>\n<p>The 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites will be deployed into a LEO inclined at 53.16 degrees. This flight will be the 20th Falcon 9 launch of 2026.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Space Coast Live: 24\/7 Views of NASA, SpaceX Falcon 9 Operations, and Starship Pad Construction\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Jm8wRjD3xVA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid2\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-25<\/p>\n<p>Starlink Group 17-25 is scheduled to launch out of Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at VSFB on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 12:00 AM PST (08:00 UTC), at the start of a four-hour window ending at 4:00 AM PST (12:00 UTC). Falcon 9 will place 25 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into a LEO inclined 97.29 degrees.<\/p>\n<p>Booster B1063, flying on its 31st mission, will take a southerly trajectory and will land on <em>Of Course I Still Love You<\/em> in the Pacific. The veteran booster started its career with the Sentinel 6A-Michael Freilich mission and also flew the DART asteroid redirection mission, Transporter 7, Iridium-9 &amp; OneWeb #19, Transport and Tracking Layer (Tranche 0B), NROL-113, NROL-167, NROL-149, NAOS (LuxeoSys &amp; Others), and 21 Starlink missions.<\/p>\n<p>The Starlink flights for B1063 included Starlink V1 L28 in 2021, along with the failed Starlink Group 9-3 mission in July 2024. Starlink Group 9-3 suffered an anomaly in the second stage that manifested itself as ice near the nozzle during ascent and a failed second burn prior to payload deployment. The satellites reentered the atmosphere without being able to boost themselves to their operational orbit.<\/p>\n<p>This flight will be the 21st Falcon 9 launch of 2026.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-100564\" class=\"size-full wp-image-100564\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-26-2024-Noise-of-Summer-Alpha-on-launchpad-at-Vandenburg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-26-2024-Noise-of-Summer-Alpha-on-launchpad-at-Vandenburg.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-26-2024-Noise-of-Summer-Alpha-on-launchpad-at-Vandenburg-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-26-2024-Noise-of-Summer-Alpha-on-launchpad-at-Vandenburg-525x350.jpg 525w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-26-2024-Noise-of-Summer-Alpha-on-launchpad-at-Vandenburg-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-26-2024-Noise-of-Summer-Alpha-on-launchpad-at-Vandenburg-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-26-2024-Noise-of-Summer-Alpha-on-launchpad-at-Vandenburg-1170x780.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-26-2024-Noise-of-Summer-Alpha-on-launchpad-at-Vandenburg-585x390.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-26-2024-Noise-of-Summer-Alpha-on-launchpad-at-Vandenburg-263x175.jpg 263w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-100564\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alpha on the pad at SLC-2W. (Credit: Firefly Aerospace)<\/p>\n<p>Alpha Block 1 FLTA007 | Stairway to Seven<\/p>\n<p>Firefly Aerospace is returning the Alpha vehicle to flight after a ten-month stand down following the failed FLTA006 \u201cMessage In A Booster\u201d mission, with Alpha FLTA007 scheduled to launch the \u201cStairway to Seven\u201d mission on Friday, Feb. 20, from Space Launch Complex-2W (SLC-2W) on the north side of VSFB. Launch is scheduled for 4:20 PM PST (00:20 UTC Feb. 21), and the launch window lasts until 7:46 PM PST on Feb. 20 (03:46 UTC on Feb. 21).<\/p>\n<p>The Stairway to Seven mission will be the last flight of the current iteration of the Alpha vehicle, and will test some systems in shadow mode for the upcoming Alpha Block II rocket that will debut with the rocket\u2019s next mission. These systems include avionics built in-house as well as thermal improvements, gaining flight heritage before Block II\u2019s debut.<\/p>\n<p>FLTA006\u2019s flight was going well until stage separation, which knocked the second stage\u2019s nozzle off of the second stage\u2019s engine. The flight almost made orbit, but the lack of a nozzle and subsequent performance degradation was too much to overcome. Firefly added thermal protection, adjusted ascent trajectories, and strengthened flight components in response to the failure.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-112070\" class=\"size-full wp-image-112070\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_2705.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_2705.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_2705-350x227.png 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_2705-539x350.png 539w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_2705-768x499.png 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_2705-1920x1248.png 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_2705-1170x760.png 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-112070\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Firefly Alpha Block II second stage undergoing qualification testing in Briggs, Texas. (Credit: Firefly Aerospace)<\/p>\n<p>The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cleared Alpha to fly again in September 2025, but the first stage intended to fly FLTA007 suffered a combustion event in one of its engines during a test later that month, leading to the loss of that stage. Firefly noted the anomaly was due to a process error during integration and made changes to prevent this in the future.<\/p>\n<p>The FLTA007 rocket will not fly a payload and fly on a southwest trajectory out of VSFB to place its second stage into a retrograde orbit going against the direction of Earth\u2019s rotation. A successful flight will give Firefly confidence prior to the introduction of Alpha Block II, which features a roughly two-meter increase in length over the current version, optimized fuel tank configurations for increased burn time, and the improvements that will be tested on FLTA007.<\/p>\n<p>This flight is Alpha\u2019s first of the year, and the next flight, VICTUS HAZE Jackal, is scheduled for the second quarter of 2026. VICTUS HAZE Jackal will fly the Jackal Autonomous Orbital Vehicle for the U.S. Space Force\u2019s Tactically Responsive Space program.<\/p>\n<p>Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-104<\/p>\n<p>Starlink Group 6-104 is set to launch from SLC-40 at 9:04 PM EST on Feb. 21 (02:04 UTC on Feb. 22) at the start of a four-hour window lasting until 1:04 AM on Feb. 22 (06:04 UTC). Booster B1067 will set a new record for the number of flights by a single Falcon 9 booster at 33, and will fly on a southeasterly trajectory out of the Cape. The booster will land atop <em>A Shortfall of Gravitas<\/em> in the Atlantic.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Starlink 6-104\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ybbp7LwLNRA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid3\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>B1067 started its long career with the CRS-22 mission in the summer of 2021, and later flew the Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Hotbird 13G, O3b mPower 1 &amp; 2, Satria, Merah Putih 2, Galileo FOC FM26 &amp; FM32, Koreasat 6A, and 21 Starlink missions prior to Starlink Group 6-104.<\/p>\n<p>The second stage will deploy the mission\u2019s 28 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into a LEO inclined at 43 degrees. This flight will be the 22nd Falcon 9 launch of 2026, with the company hoping to meet or exceed its record total of 165 Falcon family launches in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-26<\/p>\n<p>Just under 48 hours after the scheduled Firefly Alpha launch, the south side of VSFB will host yet another Falcon 9 Starlink mission. Starlink Group 17-26 is scheduled to fly from SLC-4E on Sunday, Feb. 22, at 12:00 PM PST (20:00 UTC) at the start of a four-hour window lasting until 4:00 PM PST (00:00 UTC on Feb. 23).<\/p>\n<p>B1093, on its 11th mission, will fly on a due south trajectory out of VSFB. The booster will land on <em>Of Course I Still Love You<\/em>, which will be stationed downrange in the Pacific. The booster previously flew two Tranche 1 missions for the U.S. Space Force\u2019s Space Development Agency and eight Starlink missions.<\/p>\n<p>The second stage will deploy the 25 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into a LEO inclined at 97.29 degrees. This flight will be the 23rd Falcon 9 launch of the year, and the 41st orbital launch attempt of 2026.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Lead image: Falcon 9 launches from Florida. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a brief grounding earlier this month following the Starlink Group 17-32 second stage deorbit anomaly, SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 returns to a regular cadence of flights with three Starlink missions this week. However, SpaceX is not the only U.S. launch provider flying this week, as Firefly Space is returning its Alpha to flight following the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[444,713,7809,479,7878,443,969,316,440],"class_list":["post-23588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-alpha","tag-b1067","tag-falcon","tag-falcon-9","tag-firefly","tag-firefly-aerospace","tag-flta007","tag-spacex","tag-starlink"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23588"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23588\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}