tater Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightside Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 Great photos, very dramatic lighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Steve Posted September 23, 2019 Author Share Posted September 23, 2019 These guys are really picking up the pace! It looks like they will hit their 2020 target. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 The small launch market is gonna be tough, IMO. The new SpaceX monthly rideshares are brutal to these providers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 Didn't see this coming... Quote “Firefly is committed to flying Beta, our medium class launch vehicle. Aerojet Rocketdyne’s AR1 engine, which incorporates the latest advances in propulsion technology, materials science and manufacturing techniques, is incredibly well suited to power Beta given its cost-effective, high performance capabilities. By cooperating on this development, we are accelerating our time to market and providing our customers with high confidence in Beta’s schedule, performance and reliability.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insert_name Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 It sort of makes sense, why develop an engine of your own when someone else has already started and will give you a spot on Shelby's gravy train Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 7 minutes ago, insert_name said: It sort of makes sense, why develop an engine of your own when someone else has already started and will give you a spot on Shelby's gravy train I was thinking before that serious new companies make their own engines... but delicious pork is certainly a possible motive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatGuyWithALongUsername Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 ....what the? Don't they have their own engine already, though? Wouldn't it just be less money to use the Reavers from the Alpha again, rather than both paying for additional development costs of needlessly changing the engine and paying a probably high upcharge to Aerojet Rocketdyne? I mean, the AR-1 isn't even fully developed, while the Reavers are already being tested in quads- by the time Beta flies, the Reavers should have flown at least once and thus automatically be more reliable. Seriously, what's the point? Other than some gravy, I guess... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 They were supposed to have a DIVH/FH looking larger vehicle for medium list. Dunno what they do with a 2500kN engine, particularly one that is bound to be amazingly expensive (unless there is some AJR engine that isn't incredibly expensive). Presumably they'll need 2-3 AR-1s for their rocket, and give AJR pricing, that pretty much means they are proposing a medium LV where the engines approach the cost of a retail F9 launch... not sure where the market is. Looks like AJR says that AR1 costs under 25M$ per pair of engines. So If they can use just 2, then the booster would "only" have ~25M$ in it for engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatGuyWithALongUsername Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 I thought the Beta was just a triple-core Alpha though? What's wrong with the Reavers? Looking at the payload user's guide, this was clearly the plan before now. Why would they change it? I don't get it at all. Besides, "AR-1" isn't a Firefly reference! And they STILL haven't named anything Serenity or something more obvious like that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insert_name Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 Space news said they have switched to single core for beta https://spacenews.com/firefly-partners-with-aerojet-rocketdyne-mulls-ar1-engine-for-beta-launch-vehicle/ 16 minutes ago, tater said: They were supposed to have a DIVH/FH looking larger vehicle for medium list. Dunno what they do with a 2500kN engine, particularly one that is bound to be amazingly expensive (unless there is some AJR engine that isn't incredibly expensive). Presumably they'll need 2-3 AR-1s for their rocket, and give AJR pricing, that pretty much means they are proposing a medium LV where the engines approach the cost of a retail F9 launch... not sure where the market is. Looks like AJR says that AR1 costs under 25M$ per pair of engines. So If they can use just 2, then the booster would "only" have ~25M$ in it for engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 3 minutes ago, insert_name said: Space news said they have switched to single core for beta https://spacenews.com/firefly-partners-with-aerojet-rocketdyne-mulls-ar1-engine-for-beta-launch-vehicle/ Yeah, so presumably a single pair of AR1s. 5000kN thrust. It's basically and Atlas V (no SRBs). ~10t to LEO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatGuyWithALongUsername Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 (edited) 22 minutes ago, insert_name said: Space news said they have switched to single core for beta https://spacenews.com/firefly-partners-with-aerojet-rocketdyne-mulls-ar1-engine-for-beta-launch-vehicle/ Woah woah woah WOAH THEY DIDN'T JUST REDESIGN BETA FOR NO REASON I JUST READ THE ARTICLE It didn't *just* say Beta is now single-stick, IT SAID IT'S REUSABLE! THIS MAKE SO MUCH MORE SENSE NOW maybe I should lay off the caps for a bit BUT STILL Edited October 19, 2019 by ThatGuyWithALongUsername Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 (edited) 1 minute ago, ThatGuyWithALongUsername said: Woah woah woah WOAH THEY DIDN'T JUST REDESIGN BETA FOR NO REASON I JUST READ THE ARTICLE It didn't *just* say Beta is now single-stick, IT SAID IT'S REUSABLE! THIS MAKE SO MUCH MORE SENSE NOW maybe I should lay off the caps for a bit BUT STILL Yeah, it needs to be with AJR engines being so expensive. How? Vulcan style? There's a couple ships they can copy... Edited October 19, 2019 by tater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cameronisher3 Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 On 5/6/2018 at 7:26 AM, NSEP said: Just a blatant copy of the Electron /s I like how the basic design of the Falcon is everywhere nowadays. 1 booster and 1 upperstage, wich are all the same size in diameter, and most at the time use no more than 2 different rocket engines. Artificial selection! how is a two stage rocket a blatant copy of electron or the basic design of falcon?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wjolcz Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 29 minutes ago, cameronisher3 said: how is a two stage rocket a blatant copy of electron or the basic design of falcon?? It was just a joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cameronisher3 Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 9 hours ago, Wjolcz said: It was just a joke. X to doubt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.50calBMG Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 On 1/16/2020 at 1:25 AM, cameronisher3 said: X to doubt He literally put that he was being sarcastic in the post. Back on topic, this should be a neat little bird to watch, what with the blue exhaust and all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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