Firefly Aerospace

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Firefly Aerospace
IndustryAerospace
FoundedMarch 2017; 5 years ago (2017-03)
FoundersTom Markusic
Headquarters
Cedar Park, Texas
,
United States
Key people
Tom Markusic, CEO
Number of employees
500 in the USA
Websitehttps://www.firefly.com

Firefly Aerospace [1][2] is an American private aerospace firm based in Austin, Texas, that develops launch vehicles for commercial launches to orbit. The company completed its $75 million Series A investment round in May 2021, which was led by DADA Holdings.[3] The current company was formed when the assets of the former company Firefly Space Systems were acquired by EOS Launcher in March 2017, which was then renamed Firefly Aerospace.

Firefly Aerospace is a proponent of NewSpace: a movement in the aerospace industry whose objective is to increase access to space.[4]

Firefly Alpha lifting off the pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base on September 2, 2021.

Launch vehicles[edit]

Firefly Alpha[edit]

Main article: Firefly Alpha

The Alpha vehicle developed by Firefly Aerospace is an expendable launch vehicle with 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) payload capability to low Earth orbit and 600 kg (1,300 lb) to Sun-synchronous orbit. Projected launch cost is US$15 million per launch. Alpha is designed to compete with vehicles like the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).[5] It utilizes Reaver-1 and Lightning-1 engines and a lightweight carbon composite structure to reduce launch weight, resulting in improved payload fraction.[6]

Firefly Beta[edit]

Firefly Beta is a launch vehicle concept originally planned to consist of three Alpha cores strapped together.[7] In October 2019, Firefly announced a partnership with Aerojet Rocketdyne to develop a single core rocket potentially powered by Rocketdyne's AR1 engine.[8] In 2020, the Beta was redesigned to be a scaled up Alpha. The first stage will be 3.7 m (12 ft) diameter with 5 Reaver engines capable of delivering 8000 kg to LEO or 5800 kg to SSO inside a 4.7 m (15 ft) fairing.[9] As of October 2021, the first Beta launch is planned for the second half of 2024.[10]

Firefly Gamma[edit]

Firefly FRE-R1 engine test, September 2015

Firefly Gamma is a concept of a winged rocket to launch small payloads into orbit. It would be a 2-stage rocket 75% reusable with its first stage landing horizontally at a runway. If built, its first test flights are expected to start in the 2020s.[11][12]

Lunar landers[edit]

Genesis lunar lander[edit]

On 9 June 2019, Firefly Aerospace announced that it had signed an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which owns the intellectual property of the Beresheet lunar lander design, to build a lunar lander named Genesis based on Beresheet.[13][14][15] Genesis was proposed for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) to deliver payloads to the surface of the Moon.[13][14] If selected, Firefly Genesis would have been launched on a Firefly Beta rocket,[14] or a Falcon 9 rocket[15] in late 2022.[16] Due to changing CLPS specifications, Firefly determined that Genesis no longer fit NASA's requirements and started work on a new lunar lander design called Blue Ghost in 2021.[17]

Blue Ghost lunar lander[edit]

Blue Ghost
ManufacturerFirefly Aerospace
DesignerFirefly Aerospace
Country of originUnited States
OperatorFirefly Aerospace
ApplicationsLunar payloads delivery
Specifications
Spacecraft typeLander
Payload capacity150 kg (330 lb)[18]
Production
StatusIn development
Launched0
Maiden launchMid 2023 (planned)
← Artemis-7 lander VIPER →

Blue Ghost is a lunar lander designed internally at Firefly to meet NASA's updated requirements for a CLPS lunar lander. The lander is named after the rare blue ghost firefly (Phausis reticulata).[19]

On 4 February 2021, NASA awarded a CLPS contract worth US$93.3 million to Firefly Aerospace to deliver a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon in 2023. The award is part of the NASA'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. The initiative is a key part of NASA's Artemis program.

Firefly Aerospace will be responsible for end-to-end delivery services, including payload integration, launch from Earth, landing on the Moon, and mission operations. This is the sixth award for lunar surface delivery under the CLPS initiative. This is the first delivery awarded to Firefly Aerospace, which will provide the lunar delivery service using its Blue Ghost lander, which the company designed and developed at its Cedar Park facility. This facility also will house the integration of NASA and any non-NASA payloads, and also will serve as the company's mission operations center for the 2023 delivery. Mare Crisium, where Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost will land, is a more than 500-km-wide basin where instruments will gather data to provide insight into the Moon's regolith – loose, fragmented rock and soil – properties, geophysical characteristics, and the interaction of solar wind and Earth's magnetic field.[20]

The payloads, collectively expected to total 94 kg (207 lb) in mass, include:[20]

  • The Next Generation Lunar Retroreflectors (NGLR), which will serve as a target for lasers on Earth to precisely measure the distance between Earth and the Moon. The retroreflector that will fly on this mission also will provide data that could be used to understand various aspects of the lunar interior and address fundamental physics questions.
  • The Reconfigurable, Radiation Tolerant Computer System (RadPC), which aims to demonstrate a radiation-tolerant computing technology. Due to the Moon's lack of atmosphere and magnetic field, radiation from the Sun will be a challenge for electronics. This investigation also will characterize the radiation effects on the lunar surface.
  • The Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS), which is designed to characterize the structure and composition of the Moon's mantle by studying electric and magnetic fields. The investigation will make use of a flight-spare magnetometer, a device that measures magnetic fields, originally made for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft currently orbiting Mars.
  • The Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER), which is designed to measure heat flow from the interior of the Moon. The probe will attempt to drill 2.13–3.05 m (7 ft 0 in – 10 ft 0 in) into the lunar regolith to investigate the Moon's thermal properties at different depths.
  • The Lunar PlanetVac (LPV), which is designed to acquire lunar regolith from the surface and transfer it to other instruments that would analyze the material or put it in a container that another spacecraft could return to Earth.
  • Stereo CAmeras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS 1.1), which will capture video and still images of the area under the lander from when the engine plume first disturbs the lunar surface through engine shutdown. Long-focal-length cameras will determine the pre-landing surface topography. Photogrammetry will be used to reconstruct the changing surface during landing. Understanding the physics of rocket exhaust on the regolith, and the displacement of dust, gravel, and rocks is critical to understanding how to best avoid kicking up surface materials during the terminal phase of flight/landing on the Moon and other celestial bodies.
  • The Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS), which will generate a non-uniform electric field using varying high voltage on multiple electrodes. This traveling field, in turn, carries away the particles and has potential applications in thermal radiators, spacesuit fabrics, visors, camera lenses, solar panels, and many other technologies.
  • The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), which is based on GPS. LuGRE will continue to extend the reach of GPS signals and, if successful, be the first to discern GPS signals at lunar distances.

These payloads will fly on the Blue Ghost lunar lander to Mare Crisium for a two week mission. Such investigations will help prepare for human missions to the lunar surface.[17]

On 20 May 2021, Firefly selected SpaceX's Falcon 9 as the launch vehicle for the first mission, as their own Alpha rocket does not have the performance or payload volume needed to launch Blue Ghost.[21] Firefly's future Beta launch vehicle is expected to support future Blue Ghost missions.[22]

In Space Transportation[edit]

Firefly is developing spacecraft to provide end-to-end space transportation services. The Firefly Space Utility Vehicle (SUV)[23] is a reusable electric spacecraft that moves payloads and satellites from one orbit to another within LEO, GEO, and Lunar space. The SUV allows smaller rockets to deliver larger payloads to more difficult orbits, and enables satellite relocation, servicing, mission extension, deorbiting, and other needs.

The Firefly Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) is propulsive spacecraft that can operate for extended periods to host or deploy payloads as far as GEO, Lunar, and Planetary destinations.

Production[edit]

Firefly headquarters and factory are located in Cedar Park, Texas.[24] The company has access to about 50,000ft2 of manufacturing facilities for building composite and metallic components in-house.[25] Firefly will use leased launch sites in California (Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 2) and in Florida (SLC-20).[26][24]

History[edit]

Firefly Space Systems[edit]

Early growth[edit]

Firefly Space Systems began as a startup in January 2014[27] by Tom Markusic, P.J. King and Michael Blum[28] and a small group of entrepreneurs who self-funded the company. In November 2014, Firefly moved its headquarters from Hawthorne, California to Austin-suburb Cedar Park, Texas.[29][4] It grew to 43 employees by November 2014,[4] and purchased 215 acres (87 ha) of land for an engine test and manufacturing[30] facility in Briggs, Texas, 50 mi (80 km) north of Austin.[31]

In 2014, Firefly purchased fiber-winding equipment for manufacturing composite cryotanks that would be built using an out-of-autoclave process. Prototype tanks were tested at Marshall Space Flight Center of NASA in mid-2014.[31]

The Firefly Alpha design was revealed in July 2014.[27] Firefly's objective was to be cash-flow positive by 2018, based on anticipated small-satellite business.[4] Firefly had signed an agreement with Space Florida to launch from the Florida "Space Coast".

Firefly performed their first hot-fire engine test of the "Firefly Rocket Engine Research 1" (FRE-R1) on 10 September 2015.[32][33] The initial demonstration launch of the Firefly Alpha was planned to be as early as 2016.[34]

Litigation and closure[edit]

In December 2014, Tom Markusic's former employer Virgin Galactic alleged he had illegally provided Virgin intellectual property to the Alpha development team. Virgin also alleged that Markusic had "destroyed storage devices, disposed of computers, and reformatted hard drives to cover the tracks of his misappropriation of Virgin Galactic information".[35] In August 2016, an independent arbitrator confirmed that Markusic had destroyed evidence. Thereafter, a major European investor backed down, leaving Firefly without sufficient money to proceed. The company furloughed its entire staff in October 2016. According to Markusic, the investor's drawback was not related to the litigation but to Brexit.[36] Within the same month, Virgin Orbit filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Firefly and two of its officers.[37] By 1 December 2016, Firefly Space Systems had permanently ceased engineering work.[38]

In March 2017, it was announced that "virtually all" of the assets of Firefly would be sold at auction, organized by EOS Launcher, Inc., who had previously bought a US$1 million promissory note issued by Firefly to Space Florida and induced a foreclosure.[39][40]

Firefly Aerospace[edit]

After going bankrupt and being liquidated in March 2017, the company was re-created as Firefly Aerospace by Noosphere Ventures,[41] who bought out the assets of former Firefly Space Systems.[1] The owner of Noosphere Ventures, Max Polyakov,[42] committed to fully fund Firefly through at least its first two launches.[43] The plans for engine development were significantly altered by the new management, and the revised Alpha vehicle design featured a pump-fed engine[failed verification] and removed the aerospike configuration.[25] The reorganization initially delayed development by approximately a year, with the first launch expected, as of 2017, in 2019.[44]

Development of engines and structures resumed in 2017 and Firefly Aerospace performed multiple hot-fire tests of its Lightning-1 second stage engine on its existing horizontal test stand. A vertical stage test stand was nearing completion[when?] and stage testing was expected to begin in the second half of 2018.[citation needed]

On 17 May 2018, Firefly Aerospace opened a Research and development (R&D) center in the city of Dnipro, Ukraine.[45] The Firefly R&D center was announced to become, over time, a place of work for more than 150 employees, and is equipped with the largest 3D-printer in Ukraine, intended for industrial manufacturing of high-quality metal parts.[46]

On 10 October 2018, Firefly Aerospace and smallsat developer York Space Systems announced a partnership to offer customers a combined package of satellite and launch services.[47]

In November 2018, it was announced that NASA selected Firefly Aerospace as one of nine companies able to bid for Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS),[48] where the company would propose a robotic lunar lander called Firefly Genesis.[49]

In February 2019, the company announced that it would develop manufacturing facilities and a launch site at Cape Canaveral.[50] They have leased a private launch pad in Florida — the former Space Launch Complex 20 (SLC-20) which had been used by the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s through 1996 — from the U.S. government and they also have a similar lease arrangement on the U. S. West Coast.[26]

In December 2019, a group of primary shareholders of Firefly Space Systems filed a lawsuit alleging fraud and intentional bankruptcy of the company by Tom Markusik. According to the defendants, including Polyakov, the lawsuit was provocative and the plaintiffs' claims unfounded, three years after the updated Firefly Aerospace was a significant success. The lawsuit is pending.[51]

In February 2021, NASA awarded approximately US$93.3 million to Firefly Aerospace to develop exploration technologies for Artemis Commercial Moon Delivery in 2023.[52]

Firefly launched their first test flight on 3 September 2021. The vehicle experienced an anomaly during ascent, and the Range terminated the flight using the explosive Flight Termination System (FTS).[53]

In late November 2021, Maxim Polyakov received a letter from the US Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) asking Polyakov and his investment firm Noosphere Venture Partners to sell a stake in Firefly (nearly 50%) for national security reasons. Polyakov denied the threat to US national security, but agreed to comply. Noosphere Ventures has announced that it will hire an investment banking firm to sell. The future of the Firefly R&D center in Ukraine is still unknown, it will probably be closed. [54]

On February 24, 2022 it was announced that Polyakov and his company Noosphere will sell their stake in Firefly to AE Industrial Partners.[55]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Once Grounded by Bankruptcy, Firefly Aerospace Appears Ready to Re-Launch". americaninno.com. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Staring at Firefly Aerospace's hot rocket-engine flames in a Texas pasture". 3 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Firefly Completes Oversubscribed $75M Series A and $100M Secondary Transaction". Firefly Aerospace. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Hutchinson, Lee (30 November 2014). "Firefly Space Systems charges full-speed toward low Earth orbit". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 3 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Firefly Alpha". fireflyspace.com. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Alpha Payload User's Guide". fireflyspace.com. 3 April 2018.
  7. ^ Clark, Stephen (2 May 2018). "Firefly's commercial satellite launcher to use Delta 2 pad at Vandenberg". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  8. ^ Clark, Stephen (28 October 2019). "Aerojet Rocketdyne, Firefly to collaborate on propulsion". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Launch-beta". Firefly Aerospace. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  10. ^ Burghardt, Thomas (14 October 2021). "Reusability on the horizon for small satellite launch providers". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  11. ^ Firefly partners with Aerojet Rocketdyne, mulls AR1 engine for Beta launch vehicle. Caleb Henry, SpaceNews, 18 October 2019
  12. ^ Firefly Gamma, Firefly Aerospace, Accessed on 30 November 2019
  13. ^ a b Firefly to partner with IAI on lunar lander, Jeff Foust, SpaceNews 9 July 2019
  14. ^ a b c Israel's failed lunar lander will live on in the design of Firefly Aerospace's new Moon spacecraft Loren Grush, The Verge 9 July 2019
  15. ^ a b Firefly Genesis Firefly Aerospace Accessed on 13 September 2019
  16. ^ "In parallel with rocket development, Firefly launches lunar lander initiative". Spaceflight Now. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  17. ^ a b Foust, Jeff (4 February 2021). "Firefly wins NASA CLPS lunar lander contract". SpaceNews. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Firefly selects Falcon 9 to launch Blue Ghost lunar lander". 21 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Firefly Aerospace Awards Contract to SpaceX to Launch Blue Ghost Mission to Moon in 2023". 20 May 2021.
  20. ^ a b "NASA Selects Firefly Aerospace for Artemis Commercial Moon Delivery in 2023". NASA. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  21. ^ "Firefly selects SpaceX to launch its lunar lander". SpaceNews. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  22. ^ Firefly Aerospace [@firefly_space] (20 May 2021). "Alpha rocket does not have the performance or payload volume needed to launch Blue Ghost - F9 does. Our future Beta launch vehicle will support Blue Ghost launch" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 May 2021 – via Twitter.
  23. ^ "Launch-suv". Firefly Aerospace. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  24. ^ a b FOX (December 2018). "Austin-area aerospace company selected by NASA for Commercial Lunar Payload Services Contract". KTBC. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  25. ^ a b "Firefly Re-Emerges With Upgraded Alpha Rocket Design | Aviation Week Network". aviationweek.com. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  26. ^ a b Resurrected Firefly Aerospace will take over a launch site at busy Florida spaceport 22 February 2019
  27. ^ a b Aron, Jacob (8 July 2014). "Next generation of space cowboys get ready to fly". New Scientist. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  28. ^ Spacevidcast (now TMRO -- see new channel) (24 August 2014). "Firefly Space - 7.26" – via YouTube.
  29. ^ "Hawthorne-based rocket company to move to Texas". Daily Breeze. 14 September 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  30. ^ Episode 15: DOWNLINK--Firefly Space Systems — Interview. The Orbital Mechanics. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  31. ^ a b Morring, Frank, Jr. (25 August 2014). "SpaceX Alum Goes After Falcon 1 Market With Firefly". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 3 December 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  32. ^ First Rocket Engine Test a Success for Firefly Space Systems Archived 26 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, press release, 10 September 2015, accessed 17 December 2015
  33. ^ Wall, Mike (10 September 2015). "New Firefly Rocket Engine Passes Big Test, Will Launch Small Satellites". SPACE.com. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  34. ^ New Alpha rocket will launch test flights from KSC Florida Today, 15 October 2015, accessed 17 December 2015
  35. ^ Messier, Doug (12 January 2016). "Former Propulsion Chief Accuses Virgin Galactic of Lying About SpaceShipTwo's Safety, Performance". Parabolic Arc. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  36. ^ Foust, Jeff (3 October 2016). "Firefly Space Systems furloughs staff after investor backs out". SpaceNews. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  37. ^ Messier, Doug (25 October 2016). "Virgin Galactic Sues Firefly, Officers for Alleged Misappropriation of Trade Secrets". Parabolic Arc. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  38. ^ ""Was a good place while it lasted"".[permanent dead link]
  39. ^ "Firefly Space Systems assets to be sold". SpaceNews. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  40. ^ Messier, Doug (5 June 2017). "Celebrate Independence Day by Buying a Rocket Test Facility". Parabolic Arc. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  41. ^ "Max Polyakov | Noosphere Ventures". noosphereventures.com. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  42. ^ "Max Polyakov | maxpolyakov.space". maxpolyakov.space. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  43. ^ Berger, Eric (11 February 2019). "After a remarkable resurrection, Firefly may reach space in 2019". Ars Technica. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  44. ^ "The Major Airspace News Of 2017, Including Max Polyakov's Firefly Aerospace". Mighty Gadget. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  45. ^ "Max Polyakov's Firefly Aerospace opens R&D center in Dnipro City, Ukraine". SpaceFlight Insider. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  46. ^ "Firefly Aerospace Opens Research and Development Center in Dnipro, Ukraine - Firefly Aerospace". Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  47. ^ Firefly Aerospace and York Space Systems partner to provide integrated satellite solutions[dead link] Jeff Foust, SpaceNews 10 October 2018
  48. ^ Daines, Gary (29 November 2018). "Firefly Aerospace Concept for Launch Vehicle with Moon Lander". NASA. Retrieved 29 January 2019. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  49. ^ Firefly to partner with IAI on lunar lander Jeff Foust, SpaceNews 9 July 2019
  50. ^ Berger, Eric (22 February 2019). "Firefly planning a major rocket assembly and launch facility in Florida". Ars Technica.
  51. ^ Original Firefly Shareholders Sue Firefly's Markusic, Polyakov Alleging Fraud
  52. ^ "NASA Selects Firefly Aerospace for Artemis Commercial Moon Delivery in 2023". NASA. 4 February 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  53. ^ "Firefly Alpha explodes during first launch".
  54. ^ "U.S. Seeks to Oust Ukrainian Owner of Texas Rocket Startup Firefly". Bloomberg. 29 December 2021.
  55. ^ "AE Industrial Partners to acquire stake in Firefly from Noosphere". 24 February 2022.

External links[edit]

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