Firefly will launch the “Flying Lightning” mission to end 2023 – NASASpaceFlight.com

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Following the Space Force’s success in integrating a payload and launching it into orbit within 27 hours, Firefly Aerospace is preparing to fly again in 2023 – this time exclusively for Lockheed Martin. The Alpha FLTA004 mission was scheduled to launch on Wednesday, December 20, at 9:18 a.m. (17:18 PST) from Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, but was canceled due to weather reason. Firefly is working with the series to determine its next launch opportunity.

The mission, codenamed “Fly the Lightning,” is designed to deploy an electronically steerable antenna (ESA) demonstration payload developed by Lockheed Martin’s Ignite organization as part of an agreement signed by the two companies in June.

Integrated into the Terran Orbiting Nebula small satellite bus and built using a proprietary design, the new wideband ESA sensor is expected to take significantly less time to calibrate and be ready for operation than traditional on-orbit sensors, demonstrating the benefits to stationed U.S. Deliver rapid capabilities to warfighters around the globe.

The satellite, nicknamed Tantrum, was the only payload launched on the FLTA004 Lightning mission, the fourth overall flight of the Fireflys Alpha small satellite launch vehicle and the company’s second flight of 2023.

Alpha made its debut in September 2021, launching the DREAM rideshare mission, although the flight only lasted about two and a half minutes due to early engine shutdown leading to a subsequent loss of control and termination during ascent. It conducted a second launch in October 2022, called “To the Black,” which ultimately reached orbit with the payload, albeit slower than planned.

The aforementioned third flight of the rocket on the U.S. Space Force’s VICTUS NOX mission took place privately on September 14, and the only thing the public could notice was the glowing trail produced by the rocket during launch. Subsequently, Firefly declared the mission a success and deployed the payload to the target orbit.

VICTUS NOX’s success is critical because it achieves the goal of demonstrating rapid-response launch capabilities: the ability to quickly deploy satellites in orbit if such a system is needed, such as in the event of a threat to national security.

Firefly aims to make this capability a secondary goal of Fly the Lightning by improving the total time between receiving the payload and launch preparation time for processing the spacecraft and integrating it with the launch vehicle.

Preparations for the mission began earlier this fall, with Firefly conducting qualification testing of the Alpha FLTA004 first and second stages at its testing facility in Briggs, Texas. Once completed, the stages were packed and shipped to the launch site at Vandenberg.

Our dedicated, hard-working Alpha launch crew successfully completed a static ignition over the weekend. As part of our test flight approach, these sustained hot fires verify that all systems can launch.Stay tuned for more information on Alpha #FLTA004 #flylightning for pic.twitter.com/0H08booIrQ

— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) December 12, 2023

As part of the rehearsals in mid-November, the vehicles were stacked onto SLC-2W’s tarmac and raised to a vertical position, followed by a wet dress rehearsal and static fire over the weekend of December 9-10. The latter helps verify that all vehicle systems are ready for flight.

The FLTA004/Fly the Lightning mission is officially scheduled to launch no earlier than Wednesday, December 20, with a 20-minute window opening at 9:18 a.m. local time (17:18 UTC). Backup dates are December 21st and 22nd, subject to weather conditions or other factors.

On launch day, the Firefly team will begin final launch pad inspections T-8 hours before takeoff. Once completed, the Alpha vehicle will start and perform a sensor check. Pressurized helium will be loaded into the rocket starting at T-6 hours.

At T-5 hours and 15 minutes, propellant loading operations will begin, loading RP-1 kerosene into two stages, followed by liquid oxygen loading at T-3 hours and 40 minutes.

Alpha will enter terminal counting at T-20 minutes, at which point control of the countdown will switch from the Firefly controller to the vehicle’s internal flight computer. From this time to T0, the computer will continuously monitor key systems to ensure that all systems are in normal working order before flight.

At T-2 seconds, the command will be given to ignite the four Reaver 1 engines of the first stage and lift off at T0 after releasing the hold-down clamps.

During its ascent, Alpha will reach supersonic speeds at approximately T+56 seconds and then pass through the region of maximum dynamic pressure at approximately T+1 minutes and 7 seconds. The four Reaver 1 engines will continue to burn until the main engine cut-off point T+2 minutes and 33 seconds.

After two seconds, stage separation will occur and the Lightning 1 vacuum engine will ignite approximately three seconds later. After this, the first stage will return to Earth and be consumed in the Pacific Ocean.

Separation of the Alphas fairing halves will occur at T+3 minutes and 8 seconds, exposing the Tantrum payload to space for the first time. The second stage engines will continue to fire until T+8 minutes and 16 seconds after flight, at which time the second stage engines will shut down.

After an approximately 41-minute coasting phase, the Lightning 1 engine will re-ignite for a 10-second adjustment burn to place the Tantrum satellite into the correct orbit. Payload deployment should occur at approximately T+54 minutes and 34 seconds, concluding the Flying Lightning mission.

Two orbital flights in three months is a good sign of the end of 2023 for Firefly, which has been busy developing and testing rockets and spacecraft, among many other areas.

Team Firefly completed our first Miranda Heat!Seven of the 230,000-pound-force engines will power the first stage @northropgrummanThe Antares 330 and the medium launch vehicle we are co-developing. There’s more to come as we work toward a full-on Heat. https://t.co/0XzKoXV9pP

— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) November 28, 2023

For example, the company recently completed structural environmental testing of a model of its Elytra orbiter, which will be designed as a multi-purpose satellite bus for deploying shared satellites or carrying payloads for long-duration missions.

Firefly has also taken a big step in engine development with the successful test of the Miranda engine, several of which will be used to power Northrop Grumman’s Antares 330 and Firefly’s own Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV). ) provides power for the first stage. The company says further testing will be conducted soon, culminating in a full 206-second hot-fire test.

As of December 2023, the Antares 330 launch vehicle is expected to make its first flight in mid-2025, launching the Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station. The debut of MLV is tentatively scheduled for the end of 2025.

Big things are coming for Firefly in the field of lunar exploration in 2024. The company’s Blue Ghost lander will be launched on the SpaceX Falcon 9, which is expected to be no earlier than September. The spacecraft will attempt to land in the Crisis Sea carrying multiple NASA payloads developed under the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program contract called Blue Ghost.

Another Blue Ghost mission to the far side of the moon is expected to launch before 2026.

(Main image: Alpha fairing with Lockheed Martin logo, such as the one seen on the FLTA004 Lightning mission. Image source: Firefly Aerospace)

NASASpaceflight and Firefly partnered to broadcast the FLTA004 Fly the Lightning mission. As part of the partnership, Firefly will bear some of the costs associated with producing the broadcast.