With Firefly on sale. Will NG just buy it?Or this is too risky for defense prime?
Quote from: XRZ.YZ on 05/22/2024 06:34 pmWith Firefly on sale. Will NG just buy it?Or this is too risky for defense prime?Lockheed Martin is extremely heavily invested in ABL, and I think a few other new-space small-sat launcher companies. So it seems like this is probably not too risky for a defense prime. Of course, LM haven't outright bought ABL, so maybe this is riskier. On the other hand, ABL doesn't have any in-space projects to make money aside from their launcher, and Firefly does.
Quote from: JEF_300 on 05/24/2024 06:24 pmQuote from: XRZ.YZ on 05/22/2024 06:34 pmWith Firefly on sale. Will NG just buy it?Or this is too risky for defense prime?Lockheed Martin is extremely heavily invested in ABL, and I think a few other new-space small-sat launcher companies. So it seems like this is probably not too risky for a defense prime. Of course, LM haven't outright bought ABL, so maybe this is riskier. On the other hand, ABL doesn't have any in-space projects to make money aside from their launcher, and Firefly does.LM throwing a huge order to Firefly today. Maybe they are actively thinking about this now.
Alternately, it could be that LM had a bunch of launches that were supposed to fly on ABL's RS1, but that rocket has been significantly delayed, and so LM has payloads on the ground in desperate need of a launch vehicle. And Firefly Alpha is the only even partially-available vehicle which meets their requirements.
Quote from: trimeta on 06/06/2024 02:56 amAlternately, it could be that LM had a bunch of launches that were supposed to fly on ABL's RS1, but that rocket has been significantly delayed, and so LM has payloads on the ground in desperate need of a launch vehicle. And Firefly Alpha is the only even partially-available vehicle which meets their requirements.If this is true, and it seems plausible to me, I wonder if we'll see more launch customers making moves like this. Just a couple years ago it looked like we'd have a bunch of 1-ton-to-LEO LVs coming online, and only one has actually materialized. That's got to have left some payloads in limbo somewhere.
If this is true, and it seems plausible to me, I wonder if we'll see more launch customers making moves like this. Just a couple years ago it looked like we'd have a bunch of 1-ton-to-LEO LVs coming online, and only one has actually materialized. That's got to have left some payloads in limbo somewhere.
Stoke's Nova is a lot more than 2 tonnes now. More like 3-5 tonnes reusable.
I had a copy of their PUG. They're stating for three different conditions: 3mT fully reusable, 5mT with first stage reuse but upper stage expended, and 7mT fully expendable.
Quote from: Robotbeat on 06/07/2024 02:54 amStoke's Nova is a lot more than 2 tonnes now. More like 3-5 tonnes reusable.You're right, I misremembered. Here's the best info on Nova that I'm aware of:Quote from: jongoff on 10/06/2023 02:40 pmI had a copy of their PUG. They're stating for three different conditions: 3mT fully reusable, 5mT with first stage reuse but upper stage expended, and 7mT fully expendable.Nova is ~3x bigger than Firefly Alpha but with full re-usability Nova has a good chance of being cheaper per launch and eating Alpha's lunch.
After 14 hot fires on stubby engines, a full length Miranda engine is up next! Thanks to the co-located manufacturing and test facilities at our Rocket Ranch, we can test and iterate rapidly to accelerate development for our MLV engines and structures. @NorthropGrumman #PartnersInSpace
Miranda is making moves! Just 24 hours after completing a 60 second hot fire on our full length engine, the team nailed mission duty cycle at 206 seconds, matching the longest engine burn during flight. With this milestone behind us, we're setting the pace in bringing the new medium class of launch vehicles to market. @northropgrumman
How long have you been on the test stand? Thats awesome!
We broke ground on the test stand 5 in January 2023 and began testing our full chamber Miranda a month ago.
We're not just moving fast on our Miranda engines... our Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) structures are also making strides! The team has taken everything they've learned from Alpha's carbon composites and scaled them up for MLV. The first stage propellant tank is now on the stand at our Rocket Ranch and ready for development testing. Then we'll qualify the full-length structure next. Exciting times ahead!
Built on legacy, engineered for the future: Our Miranda engine in development utilizes the same tap-off cycle architecture as our Reaver engine with a scaled-up turbopump, fluid system, and valve tech. This flight-proven design gives us added reliability, increased performance, and 5X the thrust from Reaver to Miranda.
Miranda is back on the stand with a big week of testing planned!
3, 2, 1... fire! Another successful Miranda test campaign in the books at 100% power. Major kudos to the test, operations, and production teams. Our Fireflies rapidly innovate and test iteratively as we build our Medium Launch Vehicle.
Talk about under pressure, our MLV development tank went through the wringer and passed full flight load testing! Using our newly built structural test stand, the propellant tanks were cryogenically loaded, pressurized to maximum operational levels, and applied with the limit axial load. Congrats to the design, build and test teams on another MLV milestone!
