A rocket that exploded over the Pacific Ocean on Thursday night prompted Vandenberg Space Force Base to issue a warning because the materials are considered unsafe.
The base ask that anyone who sees what they suspect is debris from the rocket, stay at least 50 feet away from it and report the item immediately to the Firefly Aerospace Inc. Hotline at (805) 605-2734.
Firefly Aerospace launched their Alpha rocket at 6:59pm from the Base, but experienced an 'anomaly' about 2.5 minutes into its ascent and erring on the side of caution, decided to 'terminate' it over the Pacific Ocean.
The Alpha rocket stood 95-feet high and was designed to carry 2,200 pounds of payload into low earth orbit. The terminated rocket was carrying a payload called DREAM (Dedicated Research and Education Accelerator Mission) consisting of items from schools and other institutions, including small satellites and several demonstration spacecraft.
Debris has already been found on the ground in the surrounding area but may also wash up on beaches along the California coastline.
Firefly is based in Austin, Texas where the company is developing launch and space vehicles including a lunar lander. Their Alpha rocket is intended to launch small satellites into Earth's orbit, which there is a growing market for.
In a statement, Firefly said "While it's too early to draw conclusions as to the root cause, we will be diligent in our investigation, in partnership with the FAA and Vandenberg Space Force Base. We Will utilize the data we obtained from the test flight and apply it to future missions. Our engineers are currently combine through thousands of lines of ground and flight system telemetry in order to better understand what occurred."