Firefly Aerospace launched its third Alpha mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday, although officials remained mum about specifics of the upcoming flight taking place three years after the firm’s inaugural rocket ended in a fireball.

Notices had been issued warning of an upcoming launch believed to be the Alpha rocket, which lift off from Space Launch Complex-2. 

The notices said the mission would occur between 6:57 p.m. and 8:19 p.m. Liftoff apparently took place just before 7:30 p.m. Thursday, with the ascent near sunset seen around Southern California and in Arizona.

It wasn’t clear if the rocket performed as planned and whether the payload reached orbit.

Firefly and Vandenberg officials did not comment Thursday about the upcoming launch, which often startles residents who mistake missions for earthquakes or explosions.

Even the once top-secret National Reconnaissance Office announces pending rocket launches ahead of time.

More than two weeks ago, Firefly and  Millennium Space Systems announced they had entered “the hot standby phase” for a mission dubbed Victus Nox, described as a tactically responsive space mission led by Space Systems Command’s Space Safari Program Office. 

During the hot standby phase,  the U.S. Space Force alerted the mission team, kicking off a 60-hour window to transport the payload to Vandenberg, conduct fueling operations, and integrate it with Firefly’s Alpha payload adaptor.

Space Force officials will then issue Firefly a launch notice with the final orbit requirements, giving the Firefly team 24 hours to complete the final pre-launch chores. 

Those tasks include updating the trajectory and guidance software, encapsulating the payload, transporting it to the pad, mating to Alpha, and standing ready to launch at the first available window. 

Once the payload is deployed in low-Earth orbit, Millennium will attempt to fully initialize the space vehicle in less than 48 hours and then begin operations for a space domain awareness mission, officials said.

Two years ago this month, Firefly’s first mission ended abruptly with a fireball filling the sky, sending rocket pieces raining down on some areas of the North County.