Why Did Firefly Aerospace Stock Tumble Over 12% After-Hours Today?

Since 2021, four out of the previous six Alpha launches have been unsuccessful.

Firefly Aerospace (FLY) stock fell over 12% in extended trading on Tuesday after the firm’s Alpha rocket exploded during a prelaunch trial.

“During testing at Firefly’s facility in Briggs, Texas, the first stage of Firefly’s Alpha Flight 7 rocket experienced an event that resulted in a loss of the stage. Proper safety protocols were followed, and all personnel are safe,” the company said in a statement.

Firefly said that it is assessing the impact on its stage test stand, and no other facilities have been impacted. The incident raised another question mark over the company’s launch cadence at a time when competitors are vying to cut Elon Musk-headed SpaceX’s dominance in the aerospace industry.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about Firefly was in the ‘bullish’ territory at the time of writing, compared with ‘extremely bullish’ a day ago.

Firefly had flown an unsuccessful Alpha mission in April when a technical error mid-flight caused a Lockheed Martin satellite to fall into the Pacific Ocean. It only got the approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to resume launches last month.

Since 2021, four out of the previous six Alpha launches have been unsuccessful, including the incident in April. The stakes are high for the firm as it has signed an agreement with Lockheed for 25 flights through 2029, with the April launch being the first of those.

“An incident during a test isn't so dramatic. No payload has been missing,” one Stocktwits user wrote.

“Won't have much good news until a successful Alpha [launch],” another trader said.

The seventh Alpha mission is also expected to carry a Lockheed Martin payload into space and is expected to launch sometime later this year. The company said that it will share more details on a later date.

Firefly Aerospace stock closed 17.9% lower compared to its initial public offering price on Monday. Apart from providing launch services, Firefly is expected to play a key role in NASA’s missions to the moon by providing lunar landers.

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