Sweden's SSC Space Signs with Firefly for Two Alpha Rocket Launches in 2028

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 9, Swedish space company SSC Space signed a multi-launch agreement with U.S.-based Firefly Aerospace to conduct two orbital launch missions using the Alpha rocket from the Esrange Space Center in Sweden. The two missions are planned to be implemented no earlier than 2028, serving Swedish national security customers and commercial rideshare customers. Under the agreement, SSC Space has secured the full payload capacity of both missions and can allocate payload space to government and commercial customers.

The two missions will launch from Launch Complex 3C at the Esrange Space Center. SSC Space and Firefly have previously completed the first batch of infrastructure construction for the Alpha rocket, including the launch control center, payload processing facility, launch vehicle integration building, tracking and control system, and safety and storage facilities, and are currently advancing the final construction of the launch pad.

Alpha is a two-stage liquid launch vehicle. Its current configuration has a total length of 31.7 meters, a payload capacity of 1,030 kilograms to a 300-kilometer low Earth orbit, and a payload capacity of 630 kilograms to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. Firefly has included Esrange in Alpha's international spaceport network and is simultaneously advancing its layout at launch sites on the U.S. East and West Coasts and other launch nodes.

SSC Space and Firefly established their Esrange orbital launch cooperation as early as 2024, when the two parties planned to conduct Alpha satellite launch services from Sweden. In June 2026, the two companies further completed the transatlantic regulatory framework, the relevant agreement with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, and the first batch of infrastructure construction for Launch Complex 3C, and adjusted the target for the first Alpha orbital launch to no earlier than 2028. The two-launch contract signed in September advances the previous launch site construction cooperation to the stage of specific mission procurement.

Firefly completed the seventh flight mission of Alpha in March 2026, which validated Block II upgrades including a new avionics system and an enhanced thermal protection system. The company subsequently continued to advance the full-vehicle integration and acceptance of the eighth Alpha rocket, while simultaneously expanding launch facilities in Esrange, Sweden, and Virginia, United States.

The two Swedish launches under this contract will adopt an execution model in which SSC Space serves as the purchaser of mission and payload capacity, and Firefly provides the Alpha launch vehicle and launch services. Launch Complex 3C is currently in the final launch pad construction stage, and the target time for the first two commercial missions is 2028.