Firefly’s Alpha rocket explodes on inaugural test launch

The first test flight of Firefly Aerospace’s privately-developed Alpha small satellite launcher ended in a fiery failure soon after liftoff Thursday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The rocket roared away from its pad at Space Launch Complex 2-West at 6:59 p.m. PDT (9:59 p.m. EDT; 0159 GMT) and all appeared to be going well as it climbed into a clear blue sky. The first sign of possible trouble came at about T+1 minute 47 seconds when a launch controller reported Alpha was not yet supersonic, a milestone it was supposed to have reached 40 seconds prior to that. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 3)