Author Topic: Firefly Alpha Flight 3: VICTUS NOX (TacRS-3) : VSFB SLC-2W : 15 Sep 23 02:28 UTC  (Read 48851 times)

Offline Zed_Noir

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5490
  • Canada
  • Liked: 1812
  • Likes Given: 1302
NextSpaceflight, updated August 25:
Launch NET September 2023

The wait is mildly annoying.
Why don't they launch a different payload in meantime. Their other customers must be getting sick of waiting.
Think they only have one set of launch hardware, which is currently occupied by the flight 3 Alpha standing by for launch.

« Last Edit: 08/27/2023 04:05 pm by Zed_Noir »

Offline edkyle99

  • Expert
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15552
    • Space Launch Report
  • Liked: 8900
  • Likes Given: 1398
NextSpaceflight, updated August 25:
Launch NET September 2023

The wait is mildly annoying.
Why don't they launch a different payload in meantime. Their other customers must be getting sick of waiting.
Think they only have one set of launch hardware, which is currently occupied by the flight 3 Alpha standing by for launch.
Is the rocket waiting for the payload/mission, or is it the other way around?

 - Ed Kyle

Online GewoonLukas_

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1643
  • Lukas C. H.
  • Netherlands
  • Liked: 4023
  • Likes Given: 1965
NextSpaceflight, updated August 25:
Launch NET September 2023

The wait is mildly annoying.
Why don't they launch a different payload in meantime. Their other customers must be getting sick of waiting.
Think they only have one set of launch hardware, which is currently occupied by the flight 3 Alpha standing by for launch.
Is the rocket waiting for the payload/mission, or is it the other way around?

 - Ed Kyle

Rocket and Payload are both ready, but they are waiting for the US Space Force to give them the go-ahead to proceed with a launch attempt.
Lukas C. H. • Hobbyist Mission Patch Artist 🎨 • May the force be with you my friend, Ad Astra Per Aspera ✨️

Offline Asteroza

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2998
  • Liked: 1156
  • Likes Given: 33
NextSpaceflight, updated August 25:
Launch NET September 2023

The wait is mildly annoying.
Why don't they launch a different payload in meantime. Their other customers must be getting sick of waiting.
Think they only have one set of launch hardware, which is currently occupied by the flight 3 Alpha standing by for launch.
Is the rocket waiting for the payload/mission, or is it the other way around?

 - Ed Kyle

Rocket and Payload are both ready, but they are waiting for the US Space Force to give them the go-ahead to proceed with a launch attempt.

Sounds like they need western range FTS services then, thus the scheduling holdup?

Offline russianhalo117

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8861
  • Liked: 4803
  • Likes Given: 768
NextSpaceflight, updated August 25:
Launch NET September 2023

The wait is mildly annoying.
Why don't they launch a different payload in meantime. Their other customers must be getting sick of waiting.
Think they only have one set of launch hardware, which is currently occupied by the flight 3 Alpha standing by for launch.
Is the rocket waiting for the payload/mission, or is it the other way around?

 - Ed Kyle

Rocket and Payload are both ready, but they are waiting for the US Space Force to give them the go-ahead to proceed with a launch attempt.
No. The mission authority which is the customer(s) in simplistic terms.

Getting closer.

Quote
The Firefly team now stands ready for the 24-hour callup for the SpaceForceDoD VICTUSNOX responsive space mission. We've officially entered the "hot standby phase" and wait to receive the notice to launch and final orbit requirements.

https://twitter.com/Firefly_Space/status/1696940763765203326?s=20
« Last Edit: 08/30/2023 06:08 pm by spacenuance »

Online FutureSpaceTourist

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 54388
  • UK
    • Plan 28
  • Liked: 90597
  • Likes Given: 41836
https://fireflyspace.com/news/firefly-aerospace-and-millennium-space-systems-stand-ready-for-responsive-u-s-space-force-mission/

Quote
August 30, 2023

Firefly Aerospace and Millennium Space Systems Stand Ready for Responsive U.S. Space Force Mission

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif, August 30, 2023 – Firefly Aerospace, Inc., an end-to-end space transportation company, and Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) small satellite constellation prime, have entered the hot standby phase for VICTUS NOX, a Tactically Responsive Space mission led by Space Systems Command’s (SSC) Space Safari Program Office. The team stands ready for the 24-hour callup and orbit requirements to complete final operations and launch at the first available window.

“Challenging missions like this is where Firefly excels, and we are extremely humbled and proud to provide the U.S. Space Force and the nation with the critical capability to launch on-demand in support of national security,” said Bill Weber, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “Together with our mission partners, we’ll be setting a new standard, proving nominal launch operations can be completed in a matter of hours rather than weeks to months.”

Millennium and Firefly have entered a six-month hot standby phase and will wait for activation at an intentionally unknown time. During this phase, the U.S. Space Force will give the mission team an alert notification, kicking off a 60-hour window to transport the payload to Vandenberg Space Force Base, conduct fueling operations, and integrate it with Firefly’s Alpha payload adaptor.

Space Force officials will then issue Firefly a launch notice with the final orbit requirements. The Firefly team will have 24 hours to update the trajectory and guidance software, encapsulate the payload, transport it to the pad, mate to Alpha, and stand ready to launch at the first available window. Once the payload is deployed in low Earth orbit, Millennium will attempt to fully initialize the space vehicle in less than 48 hours and then begin operations for its Space Domain Awareness (SDA) mission.

“What we’re doing with VICTUS NOX has never been done before, and I attribute our success to the dedication and teamwork of our collective team – Millennium, Firefly, and SSC’s Space Safari and Rocket Systems Launch Program (RSLP) offices,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Millennium Space Systems. “You need to have the willingness to know that there will be changes – whether requirements or processes. That’s where the teamwork and close partnerships really came into play. It’s about what help is needed to address a challenge – on all sides – and everyone pitching in to support that.”

In preparation for the mission, Firefly manufactured and acceptance tested each critical component, engine, and vehicle stage for its Alpha rocket in addition to conducting a static fire to verify all systems operate within flight parameters. Firefly and Millennium also completed multiple rehearsals in preparation for launch, which included packing and delivering a satellite mockup to Firefly’s integration facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base to practice all launch operations within the prescribed 24 hours.

“The U.S.’s ability to rapidly respond to on-orbit needs is critical to our national defense, particularly in today’s evolving space environment,” said Lt. Col. MacKenzie Birchenough, Materiel Leader for Space Safari. “The accelerated build time the team demonstrated for VICTUS NOX, combined with the demanding launch and on-orbit goals, exemplifies our strong commitment to preserving our nation’s dominance and ability to freely operate in the space domain.”

Photo caption:

Quote
Alpha launch provider, Firefly, and payload provider, Millennium, moved into the hot standby phase and wait for the VICTUS NOX callup
« Last Edit: 08/30/2023 05:47 pm by FutureSpaceTourist »

Online FutureSpaceTourist

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 54388
  • UK
    • Plan 28
  • Liked: 90597
  • Likes Given: 41836

Offline edkyle99

  • Expert
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15552
    • Space Launch Report
  • Liked: 8900
  • Likes Given: 1398
Minuteman III launch performed this morning.  Perhaps VSFB attention will now shift to Alpha Flight 3.

 - Ed Kyle
« Last Edit: 09/06/2023 02:25 pm by edkyle99 »

Offline AndrewM

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 358
  • United States
  • Liked: 414
  • Likes Given: 879
A new FCC filing was submitted starting 9/29/2023 and running until 3/25/2024. The previous filing runs until 9/28.

Quote
Please explain in the area below why an STA is necessary:
This STA is necessary to authorize launch vehicle communications for Firefly FLTA003 from Vandenberg Space Force Base SLC-2W. FLTA003 supports a DoD TacRS mission, meaning the launch and flight requirements will not be provided to Firefly until closer to launch dates. Firefly operations include a suborbital first stage and an orbital second stage. All downrange Earth stations are receive-only.

Quote
Requested Period of Operation
Operation Start Date:   09/29/2023
Operation End Date:   03/25/2024

https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/els/reports/STA_Print.cfm?mode=current&application_seq=127756&RequestTimeout=1000

Offline VLN

  • Member
  • Posts: 93
  • Los Angeles
  • Liked: 183
  • Likes Given: 184
Launch hazard notices from NGA and FAA:
Quote from: FAA NOTAM 09/239 (KZLA-A3090/23)
!CARF 09/239 ZLA AIRSPACE DCC FLETCHER 23-1 AREA A STNR ALT RESERVATION WI AN AREA DEFINED AS
334800N1221500W TO 345300N1204500W TO 345300N1203200W TO 345500N1202700W TO 345600N1202100W TO 345400N1201500W TO 345000N1201500W TO 344200N1201800W TO 342200N1204500W TO 331000N1214700W TO 295100N1235100W TO 270000N1250900W TO 270000N1255700W TO 313100N1233600W
TO POINT OF ORIGIN, SFC-UNL 2309150227-2309150314
Quote from: NGA
140310Z SEP 23
NAVAREA XII 631/23(17,18,19).
EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS:
   A. 150157Z TO 150319Z SEP, ALTERNATE
      160157Z TO 160319Z SEP IN AREA BOUND BY
      25-50.00N 126-00.00W, 26-00.00N 126-35.00W,
      25-28.00N 126-51.00W, 24-59.00N 125-50.00W,
      25-31.00N 125-33.00W.
   B. 150406Z TO 150413Z SEP, ALTERNATE
      160406Z TO 160413Z SEP IN AREA BOUND BY
      46-21.00N 143-08.00W, 28-18.00N 147-24.00W,
      27-54.00N 146-22.00W, 46-06.00N 141-21.00W.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 160513Z SEP 23.//

I think that this is VICTUS NOX, for several reasons. At the end of the long narrow blob in the lower right is a little pentagon which is probably where the first stage falls into the sea (700 miles downrange). The long wide rectangle in the upper left, nearly parallel and further north and west, must be where the second stage reenters almost one orbit later.

A rough estimate of launch heading is 209-210 deg, indicating an orbit inclination of 119-120 deg, roughly in family with Firefly's 1st and 2nd launches. The first launch window begins about 23 hr after the time I received the NGA email which is consistent with the customer's demand for <24 hr response time. (I'll guess that the second window is so that the customer can see a launch even if Firefly doesn't make it to orbit in the first window.)

Offline Ken the Bin

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3386
  • US Pacific Time Zone
    • @kenthebin@spacey.space
  • Liked: 6160
  • Likes Given: 7028
A cancel-and-replace NGA Hazardous Operations notice for the one that VLN posted above.

Note: Launches from Vandy normally include "CALIFORNIA." in the header information, which these notices do not.

Quote from: NGA
141526Z SEP 23
NAVAREA XII 634/23(17,18,19).
EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS:
    A. 150157Z TO 150319Z SEP, ALTERNATE
      160157Z TO 160319Z SEP IN AREAS BOUND BY:
      25-50.00N 126-00.00W, 26-00.00N 126-35.00W,
      25-28.00N 126-51.00W, 24-59.00N 125-50.00W,
      25-31.00N 125-33.00W.
   B. 150406Z TO 150440Z SEP, ALTERNATE
      160406Z TO 160440Z SEP IN AREA BOUND BY
      46-06.00N 141-21.00W, 46-21.00N 143-08.00W,
      28-18.00N 147-24.00W, 27-54.00N 146-22.00W.
2. CANCEL NAVAREA XII 631/23.
3. CANCEL THIS MSG 160440Z SEP 23.

Offline 4353

  • Member
  • Posts: 36
  • Tracking the Dark Side
  • Leiden, Netherlands
  • Liked: 44
  • Likes Given: 0

A rough estimate of launch heading is 209-210 deg, indicating an orbit inclination of 119-120 deg, roughly in family with Firefly's 1st and 2nd launches.

The location and extend of Area B from Navigational Warning NAVAREA XII 631 is consistent with launch into a ~97.8 degree inclined sun-synchronous orbit. The upper stage does a dog-leg after first stage separation.
Marco Langbroek - SatTrackCam
http://sattrackcam.blogspot.com

Offline Ken the Bin

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3386
  • US Pacific Time Zone
    • @kenthebin@spacey.space
  • Liked: 6160
  • Likes Given: 7028
Yet another cancel-and-replace NGA Hazardous Operations notice.

Quote from: NGA
141808Z SEP 23
NAVAREA XII 635/23(17,18,19).
EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS:
    A. 150157Z TO 150318Z SEP, ALTERNATE
      160157Z TO 160318Z SEP IN AREAS BOUND BY:
      25-50.00N 126-00.00W, 26-00.00N 126-35.00W,
      25-28.00N 126-51.00W, 24-59.00N 125-50.00W,
      25-31.00N 125-33.00W.
   B. 150406Z TO 150416Z SEP, ALTERNATE
      160406Z TO 160416Z SEP IN AREA BOUND BY
      46-06.00N 141-21.00W, 46-21.00N 143-08.00W,
      28-18.00N 147-24.00W, 27-54.00N 146-22.00W.
2. CANCEL NAVAREA XII 634/23.
3. CANCEL THIS MSG 160516Z SEP 23.

Offline Vahe231991

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1689
  • 11 Canyon Terrace
  • Liked: 464
  • Likes Given: 199
Quote
Texas-based small launch company Firefly Aerospace is preparing to jumpstart its 2023 campaign with the launch of FLTA003 — the third flight of its Alpha launch vehicle — as part of a dedicated mission for the U.S. Space Force (USSF). Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California is currently scheduled to occur no earlier than Thursday, Sept. 14 at 6:57 PM PDT (01:57 UTC on Friday, Sept. 15).

The mission — colloquially known as VICTUS NOX, which translates to “conquer the night” in Latin — will serve as a demonstration of the United States’ capability to quickly place a satellite in orbit in response to a national security threat, if the need ever arises. Firefly was awarded the mission in October 2022 under the Orbital Services Program 4 contract.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/09/firefly-victus-nox/
[Sep 14]
« Last Edit: 09/15/2023 04:04 am by zubenelgenubi »

Offline Steven Pietrobon

  • Member
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 39609
  • Adelaide, Australia
    • Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive
  • Liked: 33343
  • Likes Given: 9526
PDF of online press kit.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Online catdlr

  • Member
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13863
  • Enthusiast since the Redstones and Thunderbirds
  • Marina del Rey, California, USA
  • Liked: 11712
  • Likes Given: 9330
Firefly doesn't have a "Live Videos" tab set up on YouTube. It may be broadcast on "X". In my opinion, we will either see a full launch video or a summary/highlight video post-launch.
It's Tony De La Rosa, ...I don't create this stuff, I just report it.

Offline Ken the Bin

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3386
  • US Pacific Time Zone
    • @kenthebin@spacey.space
  • Liked: 6160
  • Likes Given: 7028
Firefly doesn't have a "Live Videos" tab set up on YouTube. It may be broadcast on "X". In my opinion, we will either see a full launch video or a summary/highlight video post-launch.

In the past, Everyday Astronaut (Tim Dodd) has done the official Firefly livestreams (like NSF with Astra). There's nothing showing on his channel though.

Online catdlr

  • Member
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13863
  • Enthusiast since the Redstones and Thunderbirds
  • Marina del Rey, California, USA
  • Liked: 11712
  • Likes Given: 9330
Firefly doesn't have a "Live Videos" tab set up on YouTube. It may be broadcast on "X". In my opinion, we will either see a full launch video or a summary/highlight video post-launch.

In the past, Everyday Astronaut (Tim Dodd) has done the official Firefly livestreams (like NSF with Astra). There's nothing showing on his channel, though.

Ken the Bin
Thanks for bringing that up. He probably didn't have time to fly out and set up for this launch in time.  The launch Hazardous notice for this didn't appear until this morning. It's part of this call and launch project.
Tony
« Last Edit: 09/14/2023 11:39 pm by catdlr »
It's Tony De La Rosa, ...I don't create this stuff, I just report it.

Offline zubenelgenubi

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12592
  • Arc to Arcturus, then Spike to Spica
  • Sometimes it feels like Trantor in the time of Hari Seldon
  • Liked: 8487
  • Likes Given: 83581
Any new news?  Launch NET this hour.
Support your local planetarium! (COVID-panic and forward: Now more than ever.) My current avatar is saying "i wants to go uppies!" Yes, there are God-given rights. Do you wish to gainsay the Declaration of Independence?

 

Advertisement NovaTech
Advertisement
Advertisement Margaritaville Beach Resort South Padre Island
Advertisement Brady Kenniston
Advertisement NextSpaceflight
Advertisement Nathan Barker Photography
0