Firefly

US private sector venture (Firefly Black LLC of Cedar Park, Texas) to produce a launcher for the small satellites market.

Firefly Alpha is a two stage rocket which aims to deliver one ton to LEO and and 630 kg to the 500 km sun-synchronous orbit. It should be able to launch twice per month from Vandenberg.

Burns Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), 2-stage
Launch from Vandenberg pad 2W

In Oct 2019 Firefly Black LLC, the company's national security and civil space subsidiary, was awareded a USAF contract.


Status: First launch planned in 2019.

SSTL has booked flights from the 2020-2022 period. Spaceflight booked a flight for 2021.

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External resources

http://www.fireflyspace.com/

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Firefly launches

#	Launch id	Payload	Launch date	Type	Site	Status/Comment (orbit in perigee x apogee x inc. x period)
1	n/a	BSS 1 (3U) Serenity (3U) Hiapo (1U) Qubik 1 Qubik 2 GENESIS L GENESIS N Spinnaker 3 (attached)	3 Sep 2021 at 01:59 UTC	Alpha	V	Failure: first stage underperformance caused by engine 2 shutdown (at approx 15km altitude) after a fuel valve closed Planned orbit: 300 km x 137°
2	22122	TeacherInSpace Serenity (3U) TechEdSat 15 (3U) FossaSat 1B (1P) Qubik 1&2 (1P) Genesis G&J (1.5P)	1 Oct 2022 at 07:01 UTC	Alpha	V	216 x 279 km x 137° (lower than expected) Decayed on 12 Oct 2022
3	23142	Victus Nox	15 Sep 2023 at 02:28 UTC	Alpha	V	476 x 531 km x97.3°

Notes: in the launch site column V stands for Vandenberg.

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