Quote from: russianhalo117 on 08/06/2021 07:28 pmQuote from: ParabolicSnark on 08/06/2021 07:15 pmI wonder if this is an indicator on their business health. Alpha has been at Vandenberg not launching for 3 quarters now and their racking up costs - this could just be a push to get any revenue they can find to keep them going until they can clear whatever hurdles are stopping Alpha.Who would their customers be? I don't think they could sell to outside the US, but who in the US is buying engines with a tricky ITAR situation? The only ones that come to mind are Launcher (sub-components) and Skyrora (full engines?) since they all have the same development facility in Ukraine.like Rocket Lab, Firefly and several others bureaucracy is responsible. NASA hasn't certified their AFTS (which are required for all new launchers) so other agencies cannot authorize them to launch from US installations. They can static fire all they want and do other testing but they cannot leave the ground.Can't they fly with a non autonomous FTS system?
Quote from: ParabolicSnark on 08/06/2021 07:15 pmI wonder if this is an indicator on their business health. Alpha has been at Vandenberg not launching for 3 quarters now and their racking up costs - this could just be a push to get any revenue they can find to keep them going until they can clear whatever hurdles are stopping Alpha.Who would their customers be? I don't think they could sell to outside the US, but who in the US is buying engines with a tricky ITAR situation? The only ones that come to mind are Launcher (sub-components) and Skyrora (full engines?) since they all have the same development facility in Ukraine.like Rocket Lab, Firefly and several others bureaucracy is responsible. NASA hasn't certified their AFTS (which are required for all new launchers) so other agencies cannot authorize them to launch from US installations. They can static fire all they want and do other testing but they cannot leave the ground.
I wonder if this is an indicator on their business health. Alpha has been at Vandenberg not launching for 3 quarters now and their racking up costs - this could just be a push to get any revenue they can find to keep them going until they can clear whatever hurdles are stopping Alpha.Who would their customers be? I don't think they could sell to outside the US, but who in the US is buying engines with a tricky ITAR situation? The only ones that come to mind are Launcher (sub-components) and Skyrora (full engines?) since they all have the same development facility in Ukraine.
Can't they fly with a non autonomous FTS system?
... They would be better off asking Elon if they could launch from Starbase. Certify it that way. ...
Quote from: Davidthefat on 08/06/2021 07:30 pmCan't they fly with a non autonomous FTS system?Not without certifing it, Range doesn't have time for FTS. I thought Tom would have remembered his Falcon 1 days when every body kept SpaceX from launching from Vandenberg so they went to Army and launched in the Pacific. They would be better off asking Elon if they could launch from Starbase. Certify it that way. But I am sure they need to launch with paying customers asap.
News – @Firefly_Space brings on Lauren Lyons as COO, with Robb Kulin having left the company in June.Lyons joins from Blue Origin, where she was a lead engineer on HLS and its advanced development program.
.@Laur_Ly: “Firefly is entering a pivotal and exciting phase of its growth ... I’m thrilled to take on the challenge of leading the efforts in scaling the company’s infrastructure to support rapid growth, high execution rate, and deliver exceptional value and service.”
FIREFLY NAMES FORMER SPACEX AND BLUE ORIGIN VETERAN AS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICERLauren Lyons tapped to lead efforts in scaling production and operations as Firefly moves into commercial productionFirefly Aerospace, Inc., a leading provider of economical and dependable launch vehicles, spacecraft, and in-space services, today announced that Lauren Lyons will join the team as Chief Operating Officer (COO), working out of their corporate headquarters in Cedar Park, Texas. This appointment comes on the heels of Firefly’s recent component business announcement and preparation for its upcoming launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California.Lauren will be joining Firefly from Blue Origin where she was a Lead Systems Engineer in Blue Origin’s Advanced Concepts. Prior to Blue Origin, Lyons spent several years at SpaceX where she held leadership roles on the Dragon, Falcon 9, and Starlink programs, and with responsibilities in Vehicle Engineering, Safety and Mission Assurance, Chief Engineering, Business Development, and Mission Management.“Firefly is entering a pivotal and exciting phase of its growth,” said Lauren Lyons, “I’m thrilled to take on the challenge of leading the efforts in scaling the company’s infrastructure to support rapid growth, high execution rate, and deliver exceptional value and service to our customers.”“I’m incredibly excited to partner with Lauren to take Firefly to new heights,” said Tom Markusic, CEO of Firefly. “In addition to her strong engineering, project management and mission assurance experience, she is a great communicator. Her ability to build productive relationships with the full spectrum of co-workers, collaborators and customers is perfectly aligned with Firefly’s vision of ‘Making Space for Everyone’.”As Firefly looks towards its first Alpha launch, and the development of the Blue Ghost lunar lander, Lyons’ priorities will focus on transitioning Firefly from an R&D environment to a production environment that streamlines delivery to customers on schedule and with high reliability, while maintaining the essential capacity to innovate, execute quickly, and respond rapidly to changing market dynamics.
Honored to be joining this amazing team!
Firefly is proud to partner with @RedwireSpace on our Blue Ghost NASA CLPS mission. We're going to the Moon together!
AUGUST 18, 2021Firefly Aerospace Selects Redwire as Key Mission Partner in Lunar Lander Mission to Launch in 2023JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (August 18, 2021) – Redwire, a leader in mission critical space solutions and high reliability components for the next generation space economy, has been awarded a subcontract from Firefly Aerospace to provide avionics and critical navigation systems for their Blue Ghost lunar lander. Firefly Aerospace was awarded a contract to deliver a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon in 2023 for NASA’s Artemis program. 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.“Redwire is proud to be a key partner on this lunar mission that will demonstrate new commercially-developed capabilities to explore the Moon’s surface,” said Al Tadros, Chief Growth Officer and Executive Vice President of Space Infrastructure for Redwire. “Our next-generation technology delivers critical capabilities for today’s most advanced lunar missions and exploration objectives.”“We are proud to select Redwire as a key partner,” said Shea Ferring, Senior Vice President, Spacecraft for Firefly. “Their expertise in interplanetary missions was an important factor in choosing them.”Through the contract with Firefly, Redwire is to provide the core avionics for the Blue Ghost lander as well as 10 cameras for the lander and the Optical Navigation System that Blue Ghost will use for descent and landing on the lunar surface. The camera system developed for Blue Ghost provides situational awareness and payload support including ultra high-definition video captured throughout the mission. The optical navigation system includes terrain relative navigation and hazard avoidance computation within Redwire’s Vision Navigation Processor.“Redwire is proud to support Firefly in making this mission possible,” said Adam Biskner, Executive Vice President of Engineering Solutions for Redwire. “Redwire’s expertise in avionics, cameras and visual navigation systems will help enable the success of the Blue Ghost lander’s mission to advance understanding of the Moon’s scientific and economic potential.”The Blue Ghost lander will touch down in Mare Crisium, after running some of the onboard experiments and technology demonstrations during transit and orbit. The lander will then operate on the lunar surface for 14 days (one lunar day), collecting data on the lunar surface to prepare for a future human presence on the Moon. The lander is slated to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2023.Building on decades of flight heritage, Redwire provides high performance space camera and navigation systems for human and robotic spacecraft requiring machine vision, optical navigation, science, remote sensing, photogrammetry, inspection, video monitoring, and mission documentation for commercial, civil space and defense applications. Redwire cameras were recently selected for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) 1A delivery to Reiner Gamma as a part of the Applied Physics Lab’s Lunar Vertex science instrument suite. ###
Firefly is also moving into the components business, starting with offering the engines it developed for Alpha to other customers. Markusic said Firefly has a contract to deliver about 50 engines to an unidentified company developing its own launch vehicle.
Look at that beautiful tap off cycle! Notice the turbine on the right is spun using pressure from the main combustion chamber! No gas generator, no preburner, such a cool design!
https://twitter.com/firefly_space/status/1421222398918107137QuoteWe are at over 400 full time employees and hiring many more! Check out our careers page: firefly.com/careers/!
We are at over 400 full time employees and hiring many more! Check out our careers page: firefly.com/careers/!
Been hearing rumors that @Firefly_Space is sellling engines to @Astra. Firefly CEO has said it has a deal to sell 50 engines to some rocket maker. Astra CEO Chris Kemp, however, denied this is an interview with me. “We are not buying engines from Firefly,” Kemp said. He addedThat Astra will buy IP as needed. "There could be a relationship with Firefly, right?," he said. "But we are not having them make engines for us."Don't totally know what all this means. . . .Flew into Oakland airport with Firefly investor Max Polyakov once. He had a FF turbopump in his suitcase. Chris Kemp was at the airport too. Total coincidence. Max and Chris nerded out on the turbo pump in the parking lot. Weird scene
It means small engine and electric pumps suck, also that it takes a long time to develop new engines and that there are not many places in the world to buy high performance engines or turbopumps.
Chris told me that evening, when we load item to Audi trunk, that electric turbo machinery soon will show "old school guys" how to build good big engines :-)
T-2 days until our launch window opens. The main objective of Firefly's Dedicated Research and Education Accelerator Mission (DREAM) payload is to capture humanity’s dreams of the future of space and to inspire people around the globe to dream big and reach for the stars.
The payload consists of memorabilia provided by schools and educational institutions. See some of them below.
I've had a few people ask about re-streaming tomorrow's @Firefly_Space launch for their own YouTube channels since we're producing the official stream on our channel. Go ahead!!! ESPECIALLY PLEASE re-stream if you stream to a non English speaking audience! LETS GO #TEAMSPACE!
PIVDENMASH sent a model of the first stage of the Beta middle-class launch vehicle to the United States.The Military informs about it.SE "Production Association Southern Machine-Building Plant. OHM. Makarova ”(PIVDENMASH) On August 10, the customer was sent a dimensional docking model of the first stage of the Beta medium-class launch vehicle, the company's press service reports .The model was made by PIVDENMASH under a contract with Firefly Aerospace, Inc. and in accordance with its design documentation.
Has anyone heard how they are doing financially? Are they funded through a second launch?
Quote from: Ragmar on 09/16/2021 11:22 pmHas anyone heard how they are doing financially? Are they funded through a second launch?I would ask Papa Musk for a loan if needed. They wouldn't be who they are with out Falcon 1 pivoting to their whole culture of Alpha.
