If you're interested in catching a glimpse of the Alpha rocket or watching a livestream of the launch, here's everything to know about Firefly's critical return-to-flight mission in California.
Update: Firefly Aerospace scrubbed the launch attempt due to " a sensor reading that was out of range," according to an updated launch alert. A new target liftoff date has not yet been announced.
A Texas spaceflight company is planning a rocket launch today for the first time in nearly a year from California.
And despite the vehicle's smaller stature just shy of 100 feet tall, Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket is projected to be widely visible across the West Coast.
Firefly, a spaceflight company based in Texas, was initially working toward a February launch of the rocket before poor weather in California forced a postponement. Now, the rocket is due to get off the ground from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County on what would be Alpha's first launch since a previous mission in April 2025 ended in failure.
Is there a rocket launch today? Next mission from Vandenberg
The next rocket launch from California could take place as soon as Monday, March 9, at the Vandenberg Space Force Base. Firefly Aerospace announced the company is working toward getting its Alpha rocket off the ground during a launch window that will be open from 5:50 to 7:50 p.m. PT.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, suggests in a planning advisory a backup opportunity is also available the following day.
It's possible sonic booms – brief, thunder-like noises that are often heard from the ground when a spacecraft or aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound – will be heard in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties, according to a launch alert from Vandenberg.
Firefly Aerospace plans return-to-flight mission in California
Firefly has been for months planning a critical return-to-flight mission for its Alpha rocket, a 96.7-foot, two-stage expendable rocket capable of carrying more than 2,000 pounds to low-Earth orbit.
When it gets off the ground, Alpha is due to fly on a southwest trajectory over the Pacific Ocean after launching from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg.
The mission, dubbed Stairway to Seven, would be the seventh and final launch of the Alpha rocket under its current configuration. The eighth flight for Alpha would be under what's known as "block 2" for the spacecraft, meaning that a new version of the rocket will be about seven feet taller with improved subsystems.
The upcoming mission simply serves as a test flight, with Firefly's goal being for Alpha's first and second stages to perform as expected in order to "test and validate key systems," the company said.
Will Firefly's Alpha rocket be visible? Where to see launch from California
Firefly's rocket launch should be widely visible across the West Coast, spanning not just California, but neighboring states like Nevada and Arizona. In fact, despite launching on a southwest trajectory, the Alpha rocket may still be visible thundering into the sky from most of Oregon and Utah, as well as southwestern Idaho and western New Mexico.
That's according to Firefly Aerospace, which shared a flight visibility map ahead of a previous launch attempt that showed specifically where and when during the launch the Alpha rocket is projected to be seen.
How to watch livestream of California rocket launch today
A livestream of the rocket launch will begin about 20 minutes before the launch window opens, Firefly announced.
The webcast, in partnership with NASASpaceflight.com, will be available here or below.
Launch to be Firefly's 1st since April 2025 'mishap,' test stand explosion
The impending spaceflight would be Alpha's first launch since an April 2025 mission from Vandenberg ended in a "mishap" that grounded the rocket for months.
During the April 29 spaceflight, part of the rocket crashed into the Pacific Ocean while on a a mission to launch a prototype satellite owned by Lockheed Martin into orbit. The rocket's sixth flight overall, the mission was to be the first of a planned 25 launches in the next five years under an agreement between Firefly and Lockheed Martin.
Firefly then faced another setback at the end of September 2025 when the first stage of the Alpha rocket blew up on the test stand in Central Texas as the company was preparing for the vehicle to return to flight. No injuries were reported during the explosion near Firefly's facility in Briggs, footage of which went viral online.
The incident, caused by what Firefly officials later described as "a process error," prompted the company to ship a different Alpha first stage to Vandenberg for the upcoming seventh spaceflight.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com
