Firefly Space's Alpha vehicle is set to return to flight after a ten-month hiatus following the failed 'Message In A Booster' mission in April 2025. SpaceX's Falcon 9, on the other hand, is gearing up for three Starlink missions this week, with launches scheduled from Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. This week's flights will see SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch the Starlink Group 6-103, 10-36, 17-25, and 6-104 missions, while Firefly's Alpha vehicle will launch the 'Stairway to Seven' mission from SLC-2W on the north side of VSFB. The 'Stairway to Seven' mission will be the last flight of the current Alpha vehicle iteration, testing systems for the upcoming Alpha Block II rocket. SpaceX's Falcon 9 will also launch the Starlink Group 17-26 mission from SLC-4E on the south side of VSFB, just under 48 hours after the Firefly Alpha launch. This week's launches will see SpaceX's Falcon 9 boosters B1090, B1077, B1063, and B1067 set new records for the number of flights by a single Falcon 9 booster, with B1067 achieving a remarkable 33 flights. The launches will also see the deployment of 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO) and the testing of thermal protection and ascent trajectories to improve mission performance.
