Firefly to close out 2023 with launch of “Fly the Lightning” mission

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Just on the heels of their success in integrating and launching a payload to orbit within 27 hours for the Space Force, Firefly Aerospace is gearing up to fly again in 2023 — this time with a dedicated flight for Lockheed Martin. The Alpha FLTA004 mission is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W) at California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base no earlier than Wednesday, Dec. 20, at 9:18 AM PST (17:18 UTC).

The mission, codenamed “Fly the Lightning,” seeks to deploy an Electronically Steerable Antenna (ESA) demonstrator payload developed by Lockheed Martin’s Ignite organization as part of an agreement signed by the two companies in June.

Integrated onto a Terran Orbital Nebula small satellite bus and built using a proprietary design, the new wideband ESA sensor is expected to calibrate and be ready for operation in much less time than traditional on-orbit sensors, demonstrating the delivery of rapid capabilities to U.S. warfighters stationed across the globe.

The satellite, nicknamed “Tantrum,”  serves as the lone payload to be launched on the FLTA004 “Fly the Lightning” mission — the fourth overall flight for Firefly’s Alpha small satellite launch vehicle and the second flight for the company in 2023.

Alpha made its debut in September 2021 with the launch of the DREAM rideshare mission, though the flight only lasted approximately two and a half minutes after an early engine shutdown caused a later loss of control and the termination of the vehicle during ascent. Its second launch in October 2022, named “To the Black,” resulted in the payloads reaching orbit, albeit lower than planned.

The rocket’s third flight — the aforementioned VICTUS NOX mission for the United States Space Force  — was conducted on Sept. 14 in private, with the public’s only notice coming in the form of the luminescent trail created by the vehicle during the launch. Afterward, Firefly announced that the mission was successful, having deployed the payload into the target orbit.

Alpha leaves a streak across the night sky over Texas during the launch of FLTA003/VICTUS NOX. (Credit: George Hamilton for McDonald Observatory)

The success of VICTUS NOX was critical, as it achieved the aim of demonstrating rapid response launch capabilities: the ability to quickly deploy a satellite in orbit if the need for such a system arises, like in the event of a national security threat.

Firefly aims to build on this capability as a secondary objective for “Fly the Lightning” by improving upon the total working hours between receiving the payload and launch readiness — time that is spent processing the spacecraft and integrating it with the launch vehicle.

Preparations for the mission started earlier in the fall, with Firefly performing qualification testing on the Alpha FLTA004 first and second stages at their testing facility in Briggs, Texas. Once finished, the stages were packaged and shipped to the launch site in Vandenberg.

The vehicle stack was rolled out to the pad at SLC-2W and raised to vertical as part of a dry run in mid-November, with a wet dress rehearsal and static fire being performed subsequently on the weekend of Dec. 9-10. The latter helped verify that all vehicle systems were ready for flight.

The FLTA004/“Fly the Lightning” mission is officially scheduled to launch no earlier than Wednesday, Dec. 20, with the 20-minute window opening at 9:18 AM local time (17:18 UTC). Backup dates are available on Dec. 21 and 22, depending on weather conditions or other factors.

On launch day, Firefly teams will conduct final pad checkouts starting at T-8 hours before liftoff. Once complete, the Alpha vehicle will be powered up, and sensor checks will be performed. Pressurized helium will be loaded into the rocket starting at T-6 hours.

At T-5 hours 15 minutes, propellant loading operations will commence with the loading of RP-1 kerosene into both stages, followed by the start of liquid oxygen loading at T-3 hours 40 minutes.

Launch timeline for FLTA004 “Fly the Lightning.” (Credit: Firefly Aerospace)

Alpha will enter the terminal count at T-20 minutes, at which point the control of the countdown will switch from Firefly controllers to the vehicle’s internal flight computers. Between this time and T0, the computers will continuously monitor critical systems to ensure all is in working order ahead of flight.

At T-2 seconds, the command will be given to ignite the four Reaver 1 engines on the first stage, with liftoff set to occur at T0 following the release of the hold-down clamps.

During ascent, Alpha will become supersonic at approximately T+56 seconds before passing through the region of maximum dynamic pressure at around T+1 minute 7 seconds. The four Reaver 1 engines will continue to burn up to T+2 minutes 33 seconds — the point of main engine cutoff.

Two seconds later, stage separation will be performed, with ignition of the Lightning 1 vacuum engine set to occur around three seconds later. After this point, the first stage will fall back to Earth to be expended in the Pacific Ocean.

Separation of Alpha’s fairing halves will occur at T+3 minutes 8 seconds, exposing the Tantrum payload to space for the first time. The second stage engine will continue firing until T+8 minutes 16 seconds into flight, at which time the second engine cutoff will occur.

After an approximately 41-minute coast phase, the Lightning 1 motor will relight for a ten-second adjustment burn that will place the Tantrum satellite into the correct orbit. Payload deployment should take place at around T+54 minutes 34 seconds, bringing the “Fly the Lightning” mission to a close.

Two orbital flights in a span of three months is a good note to end 2023 on for Firefly, which has been busy in many other areas, such as rocket and spacecraft development and testing.

For example, the company has recently completed structural environmental testing on a model of their Elytra orbital vehicle, which will be designed to serve as a multi-purpose satellite bus — either for deploying rideshare satellites or hosting payloads for long-duration missions.

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

As of December 2023, the Antares 330 launch vehicle is slated to have its maiden flight no earlier than mid-2025, with the launch of a Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station. The debut of MLV is tentatively scheduled for late 2025.

Big things await Firefly in 2024 in the realm of lunar exploration, with the launch of the company’s Blue Ghost lander on a SpaceX Falcon 9 slated to occur no earlier than September. The spacecraft will attempt to land at Mare Crisium with several NASA payloads, having developed Blue Ghost under contract for the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.

Another Blue Ghost mission to the far side of the Moon is on the manifest for a launch no earlier than 2026.

(Lead image: An Alpha fairing adorned with Lockheed Martin’s logo, such as the one present on the FLTA004 “Fly the Lightning” mission. Credit: Firefly Aerospace)

NASASpaceflight and Firefly partnered to broadcast the FLTA004 “Fly the Lightning” mission. As part of the partnership, Firefly is covering some expenses associated with producing the broadcast.

The post Firefly to close out 2023 with launch of “Fly the Lightning” mission appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.



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