The seventh launch of the Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base will wait at least another day.
Just before 6 p.m. Sunday, Firefly representatives announced they had scrubbed the launch attempt “due to high upper-level winds that exceed FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) safety parameters.”
The team will work with Vandenberg personnel to determine the next available launch date for the mission dubbed Stairway to Seven, Firefly officials said after the delay.
As of Sunday evening, they had not confirmed when the next launch attempt might occur.
The two-hour window runs from 4:50 to 6:50 p.m., with Alpha set to blast off from Space Launch Complex-2.
Originally, Firefly said they had the chance for a Monday departure if needed.
However, parts of Santa Barbara County remain under wind advisory through Tuesday morning. Affected areas include Jalama Beach and the Gaviota Coast, just south of Vandenberg.
Northwest winds between 30 and 50 mph are expected, according to the National Weather Service.
Firefly had scrapped another attempt earlier in the two-hour window Sunday, also citing upper-level winds.
They also abandoned plans for a Saturday departure.
Firefly’s relatively young Alpha program likely faces more stringent upper-level wind rules after launch debut that ended with a fiery failure. Multiple pieces of the destroyed Alpha rocket landed around Orcutt.
The sixth launch approximately 10 months ago also ended unsuccessfully although less dramatically for the Texas-based company. The satellites on board never reached orbit when the second stage experienced a failure.
For the seventh flight, Firefly officials said the goal will aim at achieving nominal first- and second-stage performance.
They also intend to validate key subsystems ahead of the upgraded rocket, for Block II, expected to debut for the eighth flight.
Firefly developed the Alpha rocket, roughly 96 feet tall, to carry smaller satellites into orbit. By comparison, the SpaceX Falcon rocket stands 229 feet high.
Vandenberg has a busy manifest for the week ahead.
The week began with a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch early Sunday morning to place 25 Starlink satellites in orbit.
An unarmed Air Force Minuteman III missile test is scheduled between 11:01 p.m. Tuesday and 5:01 a.m. Wednesday. The three-stage weapon will launch from an underground silo on North Base.
The ICBM launch is part of a regularly planned test, scheduled years in advance and not related to any real-world tensions.
Another Falcon 9 rocket launch with more Starlink satellites also could take place as soon as Wednesday, with liftoff aiming between 1 and 5 p.m. from Space Launch Complex-4.