Quote from: TrevorMonty on 09/03/2021 04:46 pmLose 1 out of 4 engines and its not making orbit so doesn't really matter if it loses control. Sent from my SM-G570Y using TapatalkYeah at that point the main hope is to get as far away from launch site so it won’t be a danger, burn as much fuel as possible.
Lose 1 out of 4 engines and its not making orbit so doesn't really matter if it loses control. Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk
Firefly Aerospace First Test Flight – Official StatementSeptember 2, 2021 – Today we conducted the first-ever test flight of our Alpha rocket. Prior to the anomaly, we had a nominal countdown and lift off at 6:59 PM local time. While we did not meet all of our mission objectives, we did achieve a number of them: successful first stage ignition, liftoff of the pad, progression to supersonic speed, and we obtained a substantial amount of flight data.More than two minutes into the flight, Alpha experienced an anomaly resulting in an early end of the mission. At Firefly, our goal is to always look out for the safety of our employees, partners, and community. We are happy to report that there were no injuries associated with the anomaly.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 combing through thousands of lines of ground and flight system telemetry in order to better understand what occurred.We want to thank the teams at Vandenberg Space Force Base and Space Launch Delta 30 for their partnership in this launch and the FAA for their continued support. We will be providing further updates as more information becomes available.ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACEFirefly is developing a family of launch and in-space vehicles and services that provide industry-leading affordability, convenience, and reliability. Firefly’s launch vehicles utilize common technologies, manufacturing infrastructure and launch capabilities, providing LEO launch solutions for up to ten metric tons of payload at the lowest cost per kg in the small-launch class. Combined with Firefly’s in-space vehicles, such as the Space Utility Vehicle and Blue Ghost Lunar Lander, Firefly provides the space industry with a single source for missions from LEO to the surface of the Moon or beyond. Firefly is headquartered in Cedar Park, TX.For more information please see: www.firefly.comFiled Under: Uncategorized.
Congratulations to the Firefly team. Lots of good data gathered today.
Thank you @Peter_J_Beck! This was a great step forward for Firefly, and we very much appreciate the tremendous good will from everyone in the space community!
Impressive first step and a lot accomplished. Keep going!
Thank you! We appreciate the incredible support from the entire space community!
Slightly different angle + footage of a couple of lightweight-ish-looking pieces falling fairly close to the observers:
They may need to reassess the range launch criteria if debris is falling that far away. Orcutt is more than 10 miles from SLC-2 and the rocket was even further downrange. Wind direction and speed for a possible debris cloud used to be part of the range launch criteria as I recall it.
Quote from: hartspace on 09/03/2021 06:48 pmThey may need to reassess the range launch criteria if debris is falling that far away. Orcutt is more than 10 miles from SLC-2 and the rocket was even further downrange. Wind direction and speed for a possible debris cloud used to be part of the range launch criteria as I recall it.as long as the debris is light enough not to cause damage and is not on fire when it lands I dont see a problem as long as firefly is willing to clean up any known debris.
I wonder if the FAA will impose a wind direction restriction on the next launch? Or let it ride?
Is this the first failure of a large orbital carbon fiber rocket? Meaning this is the first real data of these lightweight pieces fluttering to the ground?I wonder if the FAA will impose a wind direction restriction on the next launch? Or let it ride?
Firefly conducted the first test of our Apha vehicle on September 2, 2021. Although the vehicle did not make it to orbit, the day marked a major advancement for the Firefly team, as we demonstrated that we "arrived" as a company capable of building and launching rockets. We also acquired a wealth of flight data that will greatly enhance the likelihood of Alpha achieving orbit during its second flight. In short, we had a very successful first flight.Here are a few specific notes about the flight:The vehicle released and cleared the pad correctly. The various connections and moving mechanisms connected to the rocket all worked correctly. The vehicle controlled itself perfectly off the pad, with thrust vectoring eliminating all tipping or rotation, and the vehicle increased in speed at the exact rate that was predicted in modelling.About 15 seconds into the flight, engine 2 (there are four Reaver engines on the first stage) shut down. It was an uneventful shutdown - the engine didn't fail -- the propellant main valves on the engine supply simply closed and thrust terminated from engine 2.The vehicle continued to climb and maintain control for a total of about 145 seconds, whereas nominal first stage burn duration is about 165 seconds. However, due to missing the thrust of 1 of 4 engines the climb rate was slow, and the vehicle was challenged to maintain control without the thrust vectoring of engine 2. Alpha was able to compensate at subsonic speeds, but as it moved through transonic and into supersonic flight, where control is most challenging, the three engine thrust vector control was insufficient and the vehicle tumbled out of control. The range terminated the flight using the explosive Flight Termination System (FTS). The rocket did not explode on its own.Firefly has commenced a thorough anomaly investigation to gain understanding of why engine 2 shutdown early, and uncover any other relevant unexpected events during flight. We will report root cause of the anomaly at the end of this investigation. In collaboration with the FAA and our partners at Space Launch Delta 30, we will return to conduct the second Alpha flight as soon as possible.This video montage shows the entire mission from a variety of camera angles. Enjoy.
Note that the above has a typo of "values" for "valves."If that is accurate, I'm taking it as good news for the Reaver engines at least. No reason was given for the valves closing prematurely, but that could be a wiring problem, or sensor or software or some other "easily" correctable issue.Better to have a plumbing problem than to find at this late stage the engine cannot do a full burn reliably.
This should be the video:https://twitter.com/DELTA_V/status/1434566557426982915
