Firefly lunar lander touches down on the moon
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UPDATED: Wednesday, August 5, 2026 17:26
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August 8, 2023
Firefly Aerospace debuted a line of orbital vehicles called Elytra on Tuesday, as it looks to become an end-to-end mission services provider for commercial and government customers. The first Elytra will fly on a Firefly Alpha rocket in 2024, part of a rapid-response mission contract with Texas-based startup Xtenti for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
More about the three versions of Elytra at https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/08/firefly-debuts-elytra-orbital-transf
er-vehicles/
The word "Elytra" is semi-related to the bug kind of firefly.
Elytra (singular elytron) are the tough fore wings of beetles and earwigs. The elytra are not used in flight but are used to protect the more delicate hind wings.
https://www.amentsoc.org/insects/glossary/terms/elytra/
"Elytra" is also found in Minecraft
https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Elytra
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Firefly decided to delay the launch another month.
Launch Status Date/Time
Fri • Sep 29th, 2023
7:00 PM CDT
https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/launch/firefly-alpha-flta003-victu
s-nox/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Firefly selected to launch three L3Harris satellites
L3Harris is building three small satellites for the U.S. government, scheduled to launch in 2026
September 5, 2023
https://spacenews.com/firefly-selected-to-launch-three-l3harris-satell
ites/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Firefly Aerospace @Firefly_Space
We did it y’all! Today was an incredible success for the Space Force, the Firefly team, and our nation after nailing the #VICTUSNOX responsive space mission. We launched our #AlphaRocket and deployed the satellite at the target destination following a 24-hour notice.
Congratulations to the entire team! And thank you to our mission partners at
@SpaceForceDoD,
@USSF_SSC,
@SLDelta30, and
Millennium Space Systems for your continued support.
#PartnersinSpace
Learn more here: https://fireflyspace.com/news/firefly-aerospace-successfully-launches-
victus-nox-with-24-hour-notice/
1:40 AM · Sep 15, 2023
https://twitter.com/Firefly_Space/status/1702573114306015418
Firefly Aerospace Alpha Rocket from Vandenberg Lights Up San Diego Sky
https://timesofsandiego.com/military/2023/09/14/see-it-firefly-aerospa
ce-alpha-rocket-from-vandenberg-lights-up-san-diego-sky/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Firefly Aerospace just set a new responsive-launch record.
The company's Alpha rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday (Sept. 14) at 10:28 p.m. EDT (7:28 p.m. local California time; 0228 GMT on Sept. 15), kicking off a mission for the U.S. Space Force called Victus Nox.
The rocket roared off the pad just 27 hours after the U.S. Space Force gave the order — less time than on any previous national security mission.
The wheels for Victus Nox (Latin for "conquer the night") began turning in September 2022, when the Space Force awarded contracts to Texas-based Firefly and Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing subsidiary headquartered in the Los Angeles area that built the mission's payload.
More at https://www.space.com/firefly-aerospace-rapid-launch-space-force-succe
ss
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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What is next?
T 
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Quote:In keeping with the Firefly theme, the next thing is . . . Miranda!
Originally posted by THG:
What is next?
T
Firefly conducts first Miranda engine test
By Jeff Foust | November 29, 2023
https://spacenews.com/firefly-conducts-first-miranda-engine-test/
WASHINGTON — Firefly Aerospace has conducted the first hot-fire test of a new engine that will power the company’s future launch vehicles.
Firefly announced Nov. 28 that it conducted the test of its Miranda engine at the company’s Texas test site. A company spokesperson said the test, performed at 65% power, was designed to validate the engine’s startup sequence.
The company plans to work its way up to a full-duration test in the coming months, running the engine for 206 seconds. Miranda uses liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants, generating 230,000 pounds-force of thrust.
Seven Miranda engines will power the first stage of the Antares 330, a new version of Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket that the companies announced a partnership to develop in August 2022. It will replace the Ukrainian-built first stage previously used on Antares with Russian engines. The companies expect the Antares 330 to be ready for a first flight as soon as mid-2025.
A similar first stage, also using seven Miranda engines, will be used on another rocket, currently called the Medium Launch Vehicle or MLV. A new second stage will use a single vacuum-optimized Miranda engine. That vehicle, ready for a first launch as soon as late 2025, will be able to place up to 16,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit, versus the 10,000 kilograms of the Antares 330.
“Upgrading the first stage of Antares in parallel with developing the Medium Launch Vehicle enables our two companies to bring a new launch vehicle to market more rapidly while also reducing risk in the design process,” Scott Lehr, vice president and general manager of launch and missile defense systems at Northrop Grumman, said in a statement about the test.
Bill Weber, chief executive of Firefly, noted in the statement that Miranda was developed in just over a year. “Building on the legacy of Firefly’s rapidly developed Reaver and Lightning engines, Miranda is the fastest propulsion system we’ve built and tested to date,” he said, referring to the engines the company developed for its Alpha launch vehicle.
In an interview earlier this month, Weber said the schedule for the first MLV launch was driven by having the vehicle eligible for the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase Three program in time to on-ramp to that program’s “lane one” for emerging launch vehicles. “We want to fly that mission in late ’25 so that we put ourselves in a position to qualify for the ’26 manifests in lane one,” he said. “So far, so good. We’re on track.”
Firefly is balancing work on Miranda, Antares 330 and MLV with increasing production of its Alpha launch vehicle. That rocket most recently launched Sept. 14 on the Victus Nox mission for the U.S. Space Force to demonstrate tactically responsive space. The next Alpha launch, scheduled for December, will place into orbit a Lockheed Martin satellite to test new antenna technologies.
Weber said Firefly is planning four Alpha launches in 2024, all of which have customers manifested, and at least six launches in 2025. He said the company’s current facilities could support the production of up to 24 Alphas a year, provided there is sufficient demand and that the company can turn around launches that quickly.
Firefly announced Nov. 10 that it closed a third tranche of a Series C round, bringing the total raised since February to $300 million at a pre-money valuation of $1.5 billion. “We’re capitalized and we’re funded for our foreseeable future,” Weber said.
The company is continuing to raise money despite what he described as one of the most difficult markets to do so in recent memory. There w
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Firefly Aerospace scrubs Alpha rocket launch set for Dec. 20 due to weather
By Mike Wall, last updated about 2 hours ago
Liftoff had been scheduled for 12:24 p.m. ET today (Dec. 20).
Firefly has backup opportunities through Friday (Dec. 22).
https://www.space.com/firefly-aerospace-launch-fly-the-lightning
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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