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Firefly Aerospace and Millennium Space Systems: Pioneering rapid satellite deployment

Firefly Aerospace and Millennium Space Systems have come together to showcase a demonstration mission called Victus Nox with the aim of setting a new industry standard for rapid satellite deployment. Last year, the two companies were chosen to conduct this mission, designed to demonstrate a 24-hour rapid-response capability for launching satellites into low Earth orbit for the U.S. Space Force.

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Under tight deadlines from the Space Force, Firefly gears up for its next launch

First FireFly Alpha rocket

We’re coming up on one year since we’ve last seen Firefly launch its Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base. That wait will soon be over as the company announced it’s currently waiting on word from the US Space Force for its third launch, sometime within the next six months.

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space explored podcast

Space Explored 51: Astra delisting notice, Elon Musk with Ukraine, more

This week Seth and Jared dive into Astra Space receiving a delisting warning from the NASDAQ and what that means if you own shares of the company. Also, they catch you up on all the rockets that launched last (eight in seven days!!!), Elon Musk’s peace idea for Ukraine and Taiwan, oh and what’s the deal with that Crew-5 Meatball?

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space explored podcast

Space Explored Podcast 43: Starship static fires are back, Artemis I nears, and more

This week Seth and Jared discuss the Artemis I mission as it nears closer and closer to launching. The two also talk about other current events in the space industry and look at the newest images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

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Northrop Grumman partners with Firefly to upgrade Antares and develop future rocket together

Northrop Grumman Antares rocket horizontal

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, we have been following how it will affect Northrop Grumman’s capability to launch its Antares rocket. Northrop Grumman has finally announced its solution to unavailable components in a partnership with Firefly Aerospace to supply engines and a new first stage to the Antares 330 rocket.

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Firefly founder dramatically exits company, selling 58% position in company for $1

Firefly has been a promising startup with a (failed) launch under its belt and hard at work on its Alpha launch vehicle. The time at the company recently has been rather dramatic, as the US Government has been attempting to oust one of the company’s founders, Max Polyakov, citing national security concerns with his Ukrainian origins.

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[Update: Anomaly] Next Launch: Firefly Aerospace preparing for first launch of their Alpha rocket

Firefly is working towards the first launch of their Alpha rocket, as well as the company’s first launch at all. While this is a test flight FireFly will have real payloads on board this rocket. The smallsats come from a variety of education and research programs that competed for a free spot on the maiden flight. The goal of this mission is to validate the design of the Alpha rocket and its subsystems.

Date: Thursday, September 2nd, 9:59 p.m. (Window closes September 3rd at 12:00 a.m. EDT)

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NASA smallsat launch contract selection statement pulls no punches on provider readiness

NASA tapped Astra, Firefly, and Relativity Space for its Venture Class Launch Services Demo 2 program, giving each company a contract to launch a group of smallsats into orbit to demonstrate the capabilities of their new vehicles. NASA didn’t share their reasoning for the selections or who else submitted proposals in that announcement. This information is found in a source selection statement published later in the month that addresses each company’s strengths and weaknesses.

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Firefly partners with Adaptive Launch Solutions for multi-year launch contract

While we didn’t see much from Firefly during 2020 in terms of launches, we did see them in the news plenty for making deals for launches and testing their new Alpha launcher which plans to debut early next year. Firefly says they already have an almost full launch manifest for 2021 with two launches going to Adaptive Launch Solutions.

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