https://twitter.com/erdayastronaut/status/1346596013679771651QuoteCaught up with the awesome people at @Firefly_Space today! I can’t wait to see their Alpha rocket launch early this year! It’ll be the largest carbon fiber rocket, first tap-off cycle orbital rocket and frankly awesome looking!!! Think they’ll make orbit on their first attempt?
Caught up with the awesome people at @Firefly_Space today! I can’t wait to see their Alpha rocket launch early this year! It’ll be the largest carbon fiber rocket, first tap-off cycle orbital rocket and frankly awesome looking!!! Think they’ll make orbit on their first attempt?
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 01/05/2021 10:48 pmhttps://twitter.com/erdayastronaut/status/1346596013679771651QuoteCaught up with the awesome people at @Firefly_Space today! I can’t wait to see their Alpha rocket launch early this year! It’ll be the largest carbon fiber rocket, first tap-off cycle orbital rocket and frankly awesome looking!!! Think they’ll make orbit on their first attempt?"Think they will make orbit on their first attempt" LV history isn't on their side, very few LVs make orbit on first attempt.
Lots of people judged SpaceX at the time for going so fast toward Falcon 9 and skipping Falcon 5 and dumping Falcon 1. Hard to see that as a bad move, now, though.Firefly Alpha does seem a bit like Falcon 1e, with their next rocket being somewhat in the Falcon 5 wheelhouse.
Quote from: Robotbeat on 01/06/2021 03:38 amLots of people judged SpaceX at the time for going so fast toward Falcon 9 and skipping Falcon 5 and dumping Falcon 1. Hard to see that as a bad move, now, though.Firefly Alpha does seem a bit like Falcon 1e, with their next rocket being somewhat in the Falcon 5 wheelhouse.If they meet their payload figures, it would basically be same class as first 5 Falcon 9s that flew. Basically the same size as well.
3-2-1 Liftoff! Our launch team is dialing in their hold-down release operations for our coming big day. Get excited, because it’s nearly time to let Alpha Fly!
Firefly CEO Tom Markusic says Alpha's target launch date is mid-February, with everything ready "except for one flight termination system component on the rocket, which is provided by an external vendor, which has not completed qualification and may not be ready by mid-February."
That centrifugal pump looks really interesting.
Firefly is performing final integration and checkouts of the Alpha first stage, second stage and payload section in preparation for our inaugural launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base!
Great article from @SpaceNews_Inc on Firefly's future development plans and New Space financing in general, based on yesterday's IPO Edge webcast. Check it out!
Firefly Aerospace seeking to raise $350 millionby Jeff Foust — January 27, 2021WASHINGTON — Small launch vehicle developer Firefly Aerospace, nearing its first orbital launch attempt, is looking to raise $350 million to scale up production and work on a new, larger vehicle.
Ever wonder what’s at the end of a rainbow? We found out today – it’s Firefly’s Vandenberg launch pad!
wen launch?
Firefly Aerospace appoints national security specialist Deborah Lee James and Cardillo Group president Robert Cardillo to its board of directors, joining CEO Tom Markusic on the board.
Max Polyakov stepped in to provide about $200 million in funding. Markusic said about 10 percent of those funds remain, and the company is now seeking to raise $350 million.
Quote Max Polyakov stepped in to provide about $200 million in funding. Markusic said about 10 percent of those funds remain, and the company is now seeking to raise $350 million.What's the burn rate at this point been? That's not a lot left for about 250 people. Especially for potential failures in launch (may be holding off launch till new funding is secure?)
NASA says it has selected @Firefly_Space for a lunar cargo delivery in 2023. Contract is worth approximately $93.3 million to deliver a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon. A big deal!
Feb 4, 2021RELEASE 21-012NASA Selects Firefly Aerospace for Artemis Commercial Moon Delivery in 2023NASA has awarded Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas, approximately $93.3 million to deliver a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon in 2023. The delivery, planned for Mare Crisium, a low-lying basin on the Moon’s near side, will investigate a variety of lunar surface conditions and resources. Such investigations will help prepare for human missions to the lunar surface.The award is part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, in which NASA is securing the service of commercial partners to quickly land science and technology payloads on the lunar surface. The initiative is a key part of NASA’s Artemis program. Firefly Aerospace will be responsible for end-to-end delivery services, including payload integration, launch from Earth, landing on the Moon, and mission operations. This is the sixth award for lunar surface delivery under the CLPS initiative.“We’re excited another CLPS provider has won its first task order award. With this initiative, we seek to develop ways for new science and technology development utilizing a service-based model,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This allows U.S. vendors to not only demonstrate their ability to safely deliver payloads to our celestial neighbor, but also expand this capability for others who want to take advantage of this cutting edge approach to explore the Moon.”This is the first delivery awarded to Firefly Aerospace, which will provide the lunar delivery service using its Blue Ghost lander, which the company designed and developed at its Cedar Park facility. This facility also will house the integration of NASA and any non-NASA payloads, and also will serve as the company’s mission operations center for the 2023 delivery. “The payloads we’re sending as part of this delivery service span across multiple areas, from investigating the lunar soil and testing a sample capture technology, to giving us information about the Moon’s thermal properties and magnetic field,” said Chris Culbert, manager of the CLPS initiative at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.Mare Crisium, where Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost will land, is a more than 300-mile-wide basin where instruments will gather data to provide insight into the Moon’s regolith – loose, fragmented rock and soil – properties, geophysical characteristics, and the interaction of solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field. The payloads, collectively expected to total 207 pounds (94 kg) in mass, include:The Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC), which will determine how lunar regolith sticks to a range of materials exposed to the Moon's environment during landing and lander operations. Components will be derived from the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) facility currently on the International Space Station.The Next Generation Lunar Retroreflectors (NGLR), which will serve as a target for lasers on Earth to precisely measure the distance between Earth and the Moon. The retroreflector that will fly on this mission also will provide data that could be used to understand various aspects of the lunar interior and address fundamental physics questions.The Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI), which will capture images of the interaction of Earth's magnetosphere with the flow of charged particles from the Sun, called the solar wind.The Reconfigurable, Radiation Tolerant Computer System (RadPC), which aims to demonstrate a radiation-tolerant computing technology. Due to the Moon's lack of atmosphere and magnetic field, radiation from the Sun will be a challenge for electronics. This investigation also will characterize the radiation effects on the lunar surface.The Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS), which is designed to characterize the structure and composition of the Moon’s mantle by studying electric and magnetic fields. The investigation will make use of a flight-spare magnetometer, a device that measures magnetic fields, originally made for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft currently orbiting Mars.The Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER), which is designed to measure heat flow from the interior of the Moon. The probe will attempt to drill 7 to 10 feet (2 to 3 meters) into the lunar regolith to investigate the Moon's thermal properties at different depths.The Lunar PlanetVac (LPV), which is designed to acquire lunar regolith from the surface and transfer it to other instruments that would analyze the material or put it in a container that another spacecraft could return to Earth.Stereo CAmeras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS 1.1), which will capture video and still images of the area under the lander from when the engine plume first disturbs the lunar surface through engine shutdown. Long-focal-length cameras will determine the pre-landing surface topography. Photogrammetry will be used to reconstruct the changing surface during landing. Understanding the physics of rocket exhaust on the regolith, and the displacement of dust, gravel, and rocks is critical to understanding how to best avoid kicking up surface materials during the terminal phase of flight/landing on the Moon and other celestial bodies.The Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS), which will generate a non-uniform electric field using varying high voltage on multiple electrodes. This traveling field, in turn, carries away the particles and has potential applications in thermal radiators, spacesuit fabrics, visors, camera lenses, solar panels, and many other technologies. The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), which is based on GPS. LuGRE will continue to extend the reach of GPS signals and, if successful, be the first to discern GPS signals at lunar distances.The CLPS initiative is a key part of NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration efforts. The science and technology payloads sent to the Moon’s surface as part of the initiative will help lay the foundation for human missions and a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface.For more information about CLPS, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/CLPS-end-
