Firefly Alpha FLTA004 : Tantrum : VSFB SLC-2W : 22 Dec 2023 (17:32 UTC)

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://firefly.com/firefly_space/status/1717232318904258575

#FLTA004 here we come! The Firefly team successfully completed stage testing on our Alpha rocket in our fastest test sprint to date. Off to Vandenberg next… stay tuned for more details.

[GewoonLukas_]

There already is a thread for this launch:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=58177.0

[russianhalo117]

There already is a thread for this launch:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=58177.0

Different payloads as Flight 4's primary payload is Tantrum scheduled for NET October now November 2023 as VCLS Demo-2FB (ELaNa 43) mission was bumped to March 2024.

One reference regarding the Tantrum payload being NET October 2023:
https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/firefly.htm

[GewoonLukas_]

There already is a thread for this launch:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=58177.0

Different payloads as Flight 4's primary payload is Tantrum scheduled for NET October now November 2023 as VCLS Demo-2FB (ELaNa 43) mission was bumped to March 2024.

One reference regarding the Tantrum payload being NET October 2023:
https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/firefly.htm

Any other sources/info regarding this satellite?

[Skyrocket]

Any other sources/info regarding this satellite?

I have not the slightest idea what it could be.

[Steven Pietrobon]

When I Googled "tantrum satellite" the first two listings were to the Lockheed Martin LM400 page and an article on Lockheed Martin flying a "technology demonstration mission" with Firefly. What I find strange is that none of these pages mention Tantrum!

https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/lm400.html

https://spacenews.com/firefly-to-launch-lockheed-martin-small-satellite-experiment/ [Jun 29]

[PM3]

When I Googled "tantrum satellite" the first two listings were to the Lockheed Martin LM400 page and an article on Lockheed Martin flying a "technology demonstration mission" with Firefly. What I find strange is that none of these pages mention Tantrum!

We will get used to this strangeness. It is the moment when an artificial intelligence has been more intelligent than we.

[GWR64]

https://firefly.com/firefly_space/status/1717232318904258575

#FLTA004 here we come! The Firefly team successfully completed stage testing on our Alpha rocket in our fastest test sprint to date. Off to Vandenberg next… stay tuned for more details.

This link doesn't work. Is that supposed to be a link to Twitter/X?
https://twitter.com/Firefly_Space/status/1717232318904258575

On the Firefly Aerospace homepage I can't find a information about an imminent launch.
https://fireflyspace.com/news/

[zubenelgenubi]

Cross-post:

https://twitter.com/firefly_space/status/1724944359378788405

Just two months after our VICTUS NOX launch, the Firefly crew has completed stage integration and rolled Alpha out to the pad. Stay tuned for more info about flight 4!

Edit/add:

Firefly:
1125-EX-ST-2023  Tantrum mission NET Oct [1], [NLT Apr 1]

Cross-post:

Scheduled:
Date - Satellite(s) - Rocket - Launch Site - Time (UTC)

2024
NET November 2023  March - VCLS (VADR) Demo-2FB/ELaNa 43: CatSat, KUbe-Sat-1, MESAT1, R5-S4, R5-S2-2.0, REAL, Serenity (3), SOC-i, TechEdSat-11 (TES-11) - Firefly Alpha (FLTA004) - Vandenberg SLC-2W (or NLT July)

NET March - OTB 2 (Orbital Test Bed-2) - Firefly Alpha - Vandenberg SLC-2W

NET March - EOS SAR 1 - Firefly Alpha - Vandenberg SLC-2W

NET October 2023  Q1 - Tantrum - Firefly Alpha - Vandenberg SLC-2W

Q1 - iSIM-SAT - Firefly Alpha - Vandenberg SLC-2W / Canaveral SLC-20

Q2 - TBD - Firefly Beta - Canaveral SLC-20

NET    January   Q2 - SUV demo mission, FANTM Ride - Firefly Alpha (FLTA005?) - Vandenberg SLC-2W

NET  December 2023  Q2 - Spaceflight Inc. multi satellite launch - Firefly Alpha - Vandenberg SLC-2W

Q4 - TBD - Firefly Beta - Vandenberg SLC-2E

TBD - Firefly Alpha - Lockheed Martin mission - Firefly Alpha - TBD
TBD - TBD - Firefly Alpha - Canaveral SLC-20
TBD - TBD - Firefly Alpha - Canaveral SLC-20

Changes on October 13th

[zubenelgenubi]

Is there intent to launch in December? 🤔 There appears to be.

[GewoonLukas_]

Possible candidate?:

Electronically Steerable Antenna (ESA) Technology Demonstrator
November 22, 2023

This self-funded payload demonstrator, which will launch aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket, extends Lockheed Martin’s significant investment in scalable wideband ESA technology development to showcasing an actual on-orbit capability. This technology is critical to future remote sensing architectures and is built on a novel, scalable design, using highly-reliable commercial parts for quick, mass-producibility. For this demonstration, it was integrated on a Terran Orbital Nebula small satellite bus.

[russianhalo117]

Possible candidate?:

Electronically Steerable Antenna (ESA) Technology Demonstrator
November 22, 2023

This self-funded payload demonstrator, which will launch aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket, extends Lockheed Martin’s significant investment in scalable wideband ESA technology development to showcasing an actual on-orbit capability. This technology is critical to future remote sensing architectures and is built on a novel, scalable design, using highly-reliable commercial parts for quick, mass-producibility. For this demonstration, it was integrated on a Terran Orbital Nebula small satellite bus.

Tantrum was baselined to use an LM400 spacecraft bus per initial information.

[GewoonLukas_]

Possible candidate?:

Answer: Yes!

Targeting December: https://fireflyspace.com/missions/

[zubenelgenubi]

Tantrum = ESA Demo?  Which one is the primary name of the satellite?

No NOTAMs or NOTMARs yet?

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://fireflyspace.com/missions/fly-the-lightning/

Mission Summary

Alpha FLTA004, called Fly the Lightning, will launch a demonstrator payload for Lockheed Martin in low Earth orbit to help get on-orbit capabilities in the hands of U.S. warfighters faster. As a secondary objective, the mission team will further demonstrate responsive space capabilities by tracking and improving the total working hours required from payload receival to launch readiness compared to Alpha FLTA003, the record-breaking VICTUS NOX mission. During the final launch operations, the mission team will encapsulate and mate the payload to Firefly’s Alpha rocket using a similar responsive timeline. Our rapid, iterative operations and robust facilities, including Firefly’s payload processing facility at our launch site, allows the team to quickly ready the payload and rocket for liftoff.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

https://news.lockheedmartin.com/ESA_payload_demonstrator

Lockheed Martin Technology Demonstration to Showcase Faster On-Orbit Sensor Calibration
Mission to Cut Delivery Time and Bring Capabilities to the Warfighter Faster

DENVER, Colo., Nov. 27, 2023 – Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) will soon launch a unique wideband Electronically Steerable Antenna (ESA) payload demonstrator to show the company's investment in advanced technology to perform missions faster once on orbit.

Based on an innovative, proprietary design, Lockheed Martin expects to calibrate this new ESA sensor in a fraction of the time it takes to operationalize traditional on-orbit sensors, which historically can take months to be powered on, fully calibrated and ready to perform their mission.

The payload demonstrator, which will launch aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket, extends Lockheed Martin’s significant investment in scalable wideband ESA technology development to showcasing an actual on-orbit capability. This technology is critical to future remote sensing architectures.

“Our customers’ mission needs and operational tempo have increased dramatically,” said Maria Demaree, vice president and general manager of National Security Space at Lockheed Martin Space. “We designed this technology to showcase how a highly producible ESA antenna could be built, launched, and quickly calibrated and fielded on orbit, in support of 21st Century Security.”

The ESA payload is built on a novel, scalable design, using highly reliable commercial parts for quick, mass-producibility. For this demonstration, it was integrated on a Terran Orbital Nebula small satellite bus.

The payload, nicknamed Tantrum, was developed in Lockheed Martin Space’s Ignite organization, a new team established to target three main missions: exploratory research and development, accelerating the pace of technology development and, lastly, introducing new product innovations.

“Within the Ignite construct, the payload was developed from early architecture to flight-ready product in 24 months on an accelerated schedule piloting many streamlined agile processes,” said Sonia Phares, vice president of Ignite at Lockheed Martin Space. “For this demonstration, Lockheed Martin has invested its own resources and is embracing more calculated risks from initial development through on-orbit operations to bring new technologies to the forefront of space faster and to keep our customers ahead of ready.”

The payload demonstrator is expected to launch in December on a Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket as part of the agreement with Lockheed Martin that Firefly announced in June. Most recently in September, Firefly’s Alpha successfully launched the U.S. Space Force’s VICTUS NOX responsive space mission following a 24-hours’ notice.

Lockheed Martin also is producing several other self-funded technology demonstrator spacecraft, including Pony Express 2, which will further demonstrate mesh networking among satellites, and the Tactical Satellite, which will demonstrate on-orbit processing, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. These on-orbit demonstrators are part of an ongoing investment plan to showcase technology maturity and new capabilities.

Earlier this year, the company successfully launched and tested its In-space Upgrade Satellite System (LM LINUSS™) demonstrator, which proved how small satellites can help upgrade and sustain space architectures with new capabilities.

[zubenelgenubi]

Will this launch campaign at SLC-2W interfere with the serial Falcon 9 launch campaigns at SLC-4E?
(Wet Dress Rehearsal, Static Fire, launch?)
Overflight?

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/harry__stranger/status/1733991895918059569

@Firefly_Space's Alpha rocket was captured laying horizontal at SLC-2W on 2023-12-08 ahead of the Fly the Lightning mission for @LockheedMartin.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/firefly_space/status/1734644662517002468

Our dedicated, hardworking Alpha launch crew successfully completed a static fire over the weekend. As part of our “test what you fly” approach, these full-duration hot fires verify all systems are GO for launch. Stay tuned for more on Alpha #FLTA004 #FlyTheLightning for @LockheedMartin.

https://fireflyspace.com/missions/fly-the-lightning/

[lightleviathan]

I'm a fan of the Firefly logo on the 2nd stage now!