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Firefly Stages Comeback BUSINESS | POLITICS | PERSPECTIVE July 30, 2018 FIREFLY STAGES COMEBACK Two years after going dark, a Texas rocket startup is ready to light up the sky INSIDE Q Liftoff for Britain’s launch industry Q Europe’s next-generation journey Q Small rockets get a timely boost VISIT SPACENEWS.COM FOR THE LATEST IN SPACE NEWS A REDEDICATED LAUNCHER Firefly’s comeback The Texas launch wo years ago, Firefly Space “Firefly is back in full force,” Tom Marku- Systems appeared to be flying sic, chief executive of Firefly, said in a re- startup is “back in high. The Texas company had cent interview. “We’re not a company that’s full force” following Tmore than 150 employees and struggling to get back on its feet.” last year’s near- was making progress on a small launch vehicle called Alpha. The company was Building Alpha death experience one of three that won NASA contracts for That “full force” has include extensive devel- smallsat launches, with plans to carry out opment work of a new, larger version of the that launch in early 2018. Alpha launch vehicle. “We’re transitioning Then the bottom fell out of the company. right now into that full vehicle integration In late September 2016 the company an- stage,” he said, with testing of the vehicle’s Building on the Firefly Alpha, nounced it was furloughing its entire staff, upper stage set to begin soon.Alpha is a two- the Firefly Beta will rely on citing financial problems when an unnamed stage vehicle with a lower stage powered 12 Reaver first-stage engines investor backed out. The company limped by four of the company’s Reaver engines, and a Lightning upper stage along using loans until last spring, when each producing more than 40,000 pounds- to carry 4,000 kilograms to Noosphere Ventures, a fund that was one of force of thrust. The upper stage has a single low Earth orbit. Firefly’s creditors, acquired the company’s Lightning engine, also developed at Firefly, assets in an auction. With new ownership, with about 15,000 pounds-force of thrust. but some of the same management, the new The Lightning engine has been fully Firefly Aerospace quietly started operations. tested, Markusic said, allowing the company Firefly isn’t quiet any more, though. The to move ahead with testing of the complete company is actively developing a new version second stage. “There’s a lot of commonality of its Alpha launch vehicle slated to make between the first and second stage, with the a first launch next fall from California and exception of the engine,” he said. “So, we’ll actively marketing that vehicle, with strong learn a lot just getting the full second stage financial backing from its new owners. going in the coming months.” Markusic said he anticipates going into JEFF FOUST qualification testing of the second stage FIREFLY 12 | SPACENEWS 07.30.18 One of the four Reaver engines that power the Firefly Alpha’s first stage undergoes a short-duration test at the company’s Briggs, Texas, development facility. near the end of the year. Those tests will “There’s a lot of preliminary work that to 2022, starting with SSTL’s Carbonite-4 involve full duration tests of the stage and needs to be done” about using that launch technology demonstration satellite. then “exploring of corners of the box” of pad, from flight safety analyses to the lo- “We have a large catalog of letters of the stage’s performance. “After you’ve gistics of taking it over from ULA. “It looks intent, which of course are nonbinding, done that, you’re ready to start producing like the Delta 2 launch is on schedule, and but at least give you some sense of where flight hardware.” we’ll be able to begin the handoff soon the market is,” he said. He declined to give Around the time the second stage goes after that launch.” a specific number of launches covered by into qualification testing, the first stage He said the company is in “very active those letters, other than it’s “more launches should be ready for its initial tests. Work is discussions” for a second launch site on than we can probably do.” still continuing on its Reaver engines, in the East Coast to handle missions to lower Firefly is looking to the U.S. government particular its turbopump assembly, and he inclination orbits. The three currently un- as one of its markets. “We’re very interested estimated that testing of the turbopump der consideration are Cape Canaveral, the in a government customer for our first should begin in October. proposed Spaceport Camden in Georgia and second launches, and we’re actively Other aspects of Alpha, including its and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. talking to folks about that,” he said. Firefly avionics, software and structures, are going Markusic expects to choose one of those recently established a Washington office well and in some cases ahead of sched- three soon, a decision that could be tied and hired Les Kovacs, former director of ule. Markusic said the company was on to selecting a site for a factory for large- executive branch affairs at ULA, as its track for a first launch in September 2019. scale production of Alpha. “We’re going vice president of business development. Firefly has selected a launch site for to make a decision this quarter,” he said. One of the major decisions the new its initial missions. In May, the company incarnation of Firefly made was to scale announced an agreement with the U.S. Air Selling Alpha up the Alpha vehicle, which can now place Force to take over Space Launch Complex As the company prepares the Alpha and up to 1,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit 2 West (SLC-2W), a launch pad currently its launch sites, it’s stepping up efforts to versus the 200 kilograms of the original used by United Launch Alliance’s Delta 2. sign up customers. In June, the company version. Markusic said that reflects what That pad will become available to Firefly announced its first firm launch contract, the market is looking for both in terms after the venerable Delta 2 performs its with Surrey Satellite Technology. That deal of price and performance. FIREFLY final launch there in mid-September. covers up to six Alpha launches from 2020 “If we can build this rocket and get SPACENEWS.COM | 13 A REDEDICATED LAUNCHER me, that reflects that smart people have looked at this, and looked at the market, and concluded we’re in the right spot.” Firefly’s vertical test stand awaits Beta and beyond installation of In the interview, Markusic reiterated second-stage past statements that he sees the biggest development tanks. competition to Alpha coming from outside the U.S., particularly from China as well as India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, which has become a popular option for launching smallsats as secondary payloads. “I continue to believe that India’s PSLV and perhaps some of the Chinese entrants are our primary competition,” he said. “Alpha is not going to completely win that battle. That’s why we’ve announced our intention to build a vehicle called Beta.” Beta is analogous to the Delta 4 Heavy or the Falcon Heavy, with three Alpha first stages and an Alpha second stage. It would be able to place up to 4,000 kilo- grams into low Earth orbit and at a lower cost than the PSLV. “Beta marks where I think we no doubt dominate the small to medium launch market competing against existing launch vehicles,” he said. Beta is only a conceptual design at this point. “Right now we’ve very much focused on Alpha,” Markusic said. “We’ve got our hands full meeting the September 2019 launch date, so we’re not working on Beta quite yet.” However, he was optimistic that, if Alpha is a success, Beta should be straight- forward to develop because of its use of Alpha hardware. “That’s not to say there won’t be technical challenges associated with doing a triple-core configuration like it to flight on time, we will have no that, but it is less challenging than doing In Texas, about problem filling up our launch manifest,” a clean-sheet rocket.” half of Firefly’s he said. “All the feedback we’re getting so Developing Beta opens up other mar- far from commercial customers, both do- kets for the company. One that Markusic 140 employees mestic and international, and government highlighted is NASA’s return to the moon. worked for the customers says that this will be a vehicle “Commercial lunar cargo is something that’s that will be in high demand.” interesting to us as a potential large-scale earlier Firefly. The competition, he says, is also trend- growth path for the company,” he said. ing toward larger vehicles. “If you look at That could start with providing launch some of the new entrants, the very new services to companies developing lunar ones, they’re essentially copying our pay- lander missions for NASA’s Commer- load class and price point,” he said. “To cial Lunar Payload Services program. FIREFLY 14 | SPACENEWS 07.30.18 The Firefly Beta rocket will stand However, he suggested Firefly could de- roughly 34 velop its own landers someday, drawing meters tall. an analogy of how NASA’s commercial cargo program allowed SpaceX to go from just building launch vehicles to building spacecraft as well. “I think that Commercial Lunar Pay- load Services potentially offers that kind of opportunity for Firefly, where we go from Alpha to Beta, which is very well suited to some of the precursor landers, and then to even having the in-house lander capability, which gets us into that spacecraft area,” he said.
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