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Firefly-Alpha (Firefly-α)
Firefly-α (FLTA001) [Firefly Aerospace] |
Firefly is a small liquid fueled orbital launch vehicle, which is being developed by Firefly Aerospace, Inc.. Both stages are Kerosene and LOX fueled and pressurized by Helium.
After Firefly Space Systems, which was developeing the first version of the Firefly launch vehicle, was closed due funding issues as a investor backed out of the Series A funding round, the assets were taken over by the newly formed Firefly Aerospace, Inc., which restarted the Firefly development without using the aerospike design for technical reasons.
The first stage is powered by four of the Firefly built Reaver engines. The second stage is propelled by the Lightning engine.
As a launch site for polar orbits, the SLC-2W complex at Vandenberg AFB, which hosted Delta vehicles gefore, was modified for the Firefly vehicles. For low inclination orbits Cape Canaveral, Florida, has been chosen with SLC-20 as the launch pad.
The basic Firefly Alpha (Firefly-α) vehicle carries up to 1000 kg payloads to low earth orbit. A Firefly Beta (Firefly-β) featuring two more core stages as boosters was to deliver about 4000 kg to low earth orbit at a later date, but was later replaced by an enlarged design without strap-ons, which has been renamed MLV.
The maiden launch of the Firefly-Alpha took place on 3 September 2021 but failed to reach orbit. The second flight on 1 October 2022 was successful.
Note: Although the manufacturer apparently calls the launch vehicle just "Alpha", it will be referred by the name "Firefly-Alpha" on this website for practical reasons, as the term "Alpha" would be rather meaningless in the site search.
| Version | Booster | Stage 1 | Stage 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefly Alpha (Firefly-α) | - | Stage 1 / 4 × Reaver | Stage 2 / Lightning |
| Firefly Beta (Firefly-β) | 2 × Stage 1 / 4 × Reaver | Stage 1 / 4 × Reaver | Widebody Stage 2 / x × Lightning |
| Performance (kg) | LEO | LPEO | SSO | GTO | GEO | MolO | IP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefly-Alpha (Firefly-α) | 1000 | - | - | - | - | ||
| Firefly-Beta (Firefly-β) | 4000 | 400 | - | - | - |
No. TypNo Type Serial Date LS Payload
1 1 Firefly-Alpha FLTA001 03.09.2021 Va SLC-2W F Serenity / Hiapo / BSS 1 / FossaSat 2 / FossaSat 1b / GENESIS L, N / Qubik 1, 2 / Spinnaker-3/Firefly Capsule 2 2 Firefly-Alpha FLTA002 01.10.2022 Va SLC-2W p Serenity (2) / TechEdSat 15 / GENESIS G, J / Qubik 3, 4 / FossaSat 1b (2) / Firefly Capsule 2 3 3 Firefly-Alpha FLTA003 15.09.2023 Va SLC-2W Victus Nox (TacRS 3) 4 4 Firefly-Alpha FLTA004 22.12.2023 Va SLC-2W p Tantrum Planned: x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.xx.202x Va SLC-2W Carbonite 4 x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.03.2024 Va SLC-2W CatSat / R5 S2-2.0 / R5 S4 / TechEdSat 11 / KUbeSat 1 / MESAT 1 / REAL / Serenity (3) / SOC-i x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.2Q.2024 Va SLC-2W Elytra M1 (FANTM-RiDE) x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.xx.202x Va SLC-2W EOS SAR 1 x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.xx.2024 Va SLC-2W OTB 2 x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.xx.2026 Va SLC-2W (L3Harris) x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.xx.2026 Va SLC-2W (L3Harris) x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.xx.2026 Va SLC-2W (L3Harris) x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.xx.202x ? (Lockheed Martin) x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.xx.202x Va SLC-2W (Satlantis) x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.xx.202x Va SLC-2W (SSTL) x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.xx.202x Va SLC-2W (SSTL) x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.xx.202x Va SLC-2W (SSTL) x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.xx.202x Va SLC-2W (SSTL) x x Firefly-Alpha . xx.xx.202x Va SLC-2W (SSTL) To be co-manifested: Failures: 1: Vehicle underperformed and broke up after 2 min 37 sec into the flight 2: Lower than planned orbit 4: Orbit circulazation failed Launch sites: CC = Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Eastern Test Range, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USAVa = Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA
References:
- Firefly: Firefly-α
