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Firefly Aerospace: A Brief Technical History
23 miles outside Austin, Texas in Cedar Park, there is a an unassuming office park with a construction company, an air conditioning supplier, and the Northpoint church. If you parked your car in the lot for Sunday mass, you might see an unusual amount of cars parked outside Firefly Aerospace. Inside, men and women are working around the clock, building the next commercial launch vehicle to ferry small satellites into orbit, and eventually the moon. Texas has a long history of headquartering Am
SpaceX on track for Cargo Dragon launch after Crew Dragon anomaly
Two days ago, SpaceX was running a series of static fire tests of their Crew Dragon spacecraft, designed to carry astronauts back to the ISS. This was the same Dragon that launched back in March and visited the International Space Station for a few days before returning to Earth. SpaceX had planned on reusing this spacecraft on the In Flight Abort test, where it would test its abort system during launch to ensure safety in the event of an anamoly. During these static fire tests of the abort sy
SpaceX on track for Cargo Dragon launch after Crew Dragon anomaly
Two days ago, SpaceX was running a series of static fire tests of their Crew Dragon spacecraft, designed to carry astronauts back to the ISS. This was the same Dragon that launched back in March and visited the International Space Station for a few days before returning to Earth. SpaceX had planned on reusing this spacecraft on the In Flight Abort test, where it would test its abort system during launch to ensure safety in the event of an anamoly. During these static fire tests of the abort sy
Liftoff for Cygnus!
Photo: NASA 2014 Northrop Grumman had a successful launch of their Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 4:46 PM EDT. On board the Antares is the Cygnus spacecraft, which is carrying almost 7,600 pounds of NASA cargo to the International Space Station with supplies and experiments for the crew on board. The Antares rocket is designed to be an inexpensive way to launch cargo into space, with the ability to carry up to 8,000 kilograms (or over 17,600 pounds) of cargo in
Liftoff for Cygnus!
Photo: NASA 2014 Northrop Grumman had a successful launch of their Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 4:46 PM EDT. On board the Antares is the Cygnus spacecraft, which is carrying almost 7,600 pounds of NASA cargo to the International Space Station with supplies and experiments for the crew on board. The Antares rocket is designed to be an inexpensive way to launch cargo into space, with the ability to carry up to 8,000 kilograms (or over 17,600 pounds) of cargo in
Northrup Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft will launch to the ISS today
This afternoon, at 4:46pm EDT, Northrup Grumman will be launching the Cygnus spacecraft on their Antares rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Cygnus will be launching on the Antares 230 rocket, which features RD-181 engines with increased performance an flexibility. This will be the last time the Antares 230 configuration will launch, as they are getting ready to debut the Antares 230+, which will have significant upgrades to the strcuture of the vehicle and also have a higher ma
Northrup Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft will launch to the ISS today
This afternoon, at 4:46pm EDT, Northrup Grumman will be launching the Cygnus spacecraft on their Antares rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Cygnus will be launching on the Antares 230 rocket, which features RD-181 engines with increased performance an flexibility. This will be the last time the Antares 230 configuration will launch, as they are getting ready to debut the Antares 230+, which will have significant upgrades to the strcuture of the vehicle and also have a higher ma
Falcon Heavy completes its first commericial mission
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket successfully lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the ArabSat 6A payload for ArabSat. Falcon Heavy launched at 6:35pm EDT flying off the pad on its way out of the atmosphere. The rocket performed nominally without any issues and delivered the satellite successfully into its intended orbit. This is the first time that SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket completed a launch for a customer, which opened the door to being a reliabl
Falcon Heavy completes its first commericial mission
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket successfully lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the ArabSat 6A payload for ArabSat. Falcon Heavy launched at 6:35pm EDT flying off the pad on its way out of the atmosphere. The rocket performed nominally without any issues and delivered the satellite successfully into its intended orbit. This is the first time that SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket completed a launch for a customer, which opened the door to being a reliabl
Falcon Heavy postponed until Thursday due to high winds
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket stood down for launch today due to high upper level winds. The launch kept getting pushed back into the window and sat waiting at the end in case the winds improved. Fueling never started so the launch was considered postponed instead of scrubbed. Weather was predicted to be 80% go, but these weather forecasts don't include upper level winds as they can be unpredictable. The threat that high Upper Levels Winds poses to rockets is that it can veer the rocket off the
Falcon Heavy postponed until Thursday due to high winds
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket stood down for launch today due to high upper level winds. The launch kept getting pushed back into the window and sat waiting at the end in case the winds improved. Fueling never started so the launch was considered postponed instead of scrubbed. Weather was predicted to be 80% go, but these weather forecasts don't include upper level winds as they can be unpredictable. The threat that high Upper Levels Winds poses to rockets is that it can veer the rocket off the
Falcon Heavy is back and better than before
Last year, SpaceX debuted their Falcon Heavy for the first time on February 6th, 2018, carrying Elon's Tesla Roadster as the test payload. The main event of that launch was the successful landing and recovery of the side boosters, which landed nearly simultaneously back at the two concrete landing zones SpaceX had constructed. Since then, the Tesla roadster has completed 3/4ths of its orbit and SpaceX hasn't launched another Falcon Heavy, why is that? The next scheduled launch of Falcon Heavy w
Falcon Heavy is back and better than before
Last year, SpaceX debuted their Falcon Heavy for the first time on February 6th, 2018, carrying Elon's Tesla Roadster as the test payload. The main event of that launch was the successful landing and recovery of the side boosters, which landed nearly simultaneously back at the two concrete landing zones SpaceX had constructed. Since then, the Tesla roadster has completed 3/4ths of its orbit and SpaceX hasn't launched another Falcon Heavy, why is that? The next scheduled launch of Falcon Heavy w