No reason to believe it can't be done in 3 years. Delta IV first flew in 2002, Delta IV Heavy first flew in 2004, just 2 years later.SpaceX may have underestimated the difficulty of getting Falcon Heavy flying once Falcon 9 was proven, but part of the reason for the delay is they improved Falcon 9 SO much that Falcon Heavy really wasn't necessary for the vast majority of the flights any more. Falcon 9 now (22800kg to LEO, 8300kg to GTO) has *almost* as much performance (to LEO and GTO) as the original Falcon 9 Heavy concept (24750kg LEO, 9650kg GTO): https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Falcon_9&oldid=133599282 .
Alpha first stage propulsion development is progressing with the first hotfire tests of the integrated turbopump-fed Reaver engine. This video shows short duration tests of one Reaver engine mounted in the four engine Alpha stage 1 thrust structure.
https://twitter.com/firefly_space/status/1111713089307754497QuoteAlpha first stage propulsion development is progressing with the first hotfire tests of the integrated turbopump-fed Reaver engine. This video shows short duration tests of one Reaver engine mounted in the four engine Alpha stage 1 thrust structure.
Good to see this progress.Do we know if this Reaver test was ignited with TEA/TEB, or is the greenish flame at ignition an indicator of copper erosion in the combustion chamber, similar to Raptor?
Yes, the green is the TEA-TEB used for ignition.
Some if these guys came from falcon, so maybe they know what it takes to get her flying. I wish them well, hope they can compete.
Bottom of this article says Firefly Alpha launch in 2021... is that accurate? Seems like they’d have announced something, doesn’t make much sense.https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.floridatoday.com/amp/3434485002
Firefly’s Alpha is the largest U.S. smallsat launch vehicle that is expected to be in service by the close of 2019
Firefly has demonstrated schedule credibility by consistently hitting major development milestones.Commencing stage qualification testing was one of Firefly’s primary goals for 2018 and was successfully achieved, demonstrating flight-configuration propulsion, structures and tankage, pressurization and propellant management systems, and avionics.
That is specific to Florida launches. Is Firefly's first launch from Florida or somewhere else?edit: one of the linked articles said first flight is from Vandenberg
Quote from: gongora on 04/12/2019 04:29 amThat is specific to Florida launches. Is Firefly's first launch from Florida or somewhere else?edit: one of the linked articles said first flight is from VandenbergThat could be, Vandenberg is the first launch site.
Quote from: novak on 04/12/2019 04:45 amThat could be, Vandenberg is the first launch site.Any update on when?
That could be, Vandenberg is the first launch site.
Les Kovacs, Firefly: get keys to launch site at Vandenberg in June/July. First launch planned for December on a “success-oriented” schedule; likely to slip to 2020. Business case closes on 4 launches/yr. #SATShow
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1067433130460467202
I don't know if anyone has put this milestone schedule in here yet. Looks like the next thing we should see from Firefly is a HIF.
Published on 13 May 2019Firefly has achieved a major milestone toward flight qualification of the Alpha second stage, supporting Firefly’s goal of Alpha first launch in 2019. A 300 second hotfire test of the complete upper stage was accomplished on the company’s vertical stage test stand. The length of the test successfully demonstrates the capability of the integrated system (flight avionics, structures, and propulsion systems) to operate for the duration of a flight mission (i.e., a mission duty cycle). The stage was heavily instrumented to provide valuable data for mechanical vibration environments which will be experienced by components (e.g., avionics, fluid system components) during flight. Preliminary analysis of data indicate that environments are consistent with analytical models and below qualification thresholds of sensitive components. All systems performed nominally during the test, and post-test inspection revealed no observable degradation of the stage systems.
Quote from: JEF_300 on 05/12/2019 10:04 amI don't know if anyone has put this milestone schedule in here yet. Looks like the next thing we should see from Firefly is a HIF.They already have horizontal processing facilities from ULA. Only have to ITL and mate the stack at the pad(s) (one for Alpha and one for Beta).
