Firefly Aerospace, founded by Max Polyakov, performed a test of the Alpha flight first stage. The four Reaver engines successfully accomplished 35 seconds of thrust vector control maneuvers, challenging the flame deflectors to constrain all that Reaver power.
The acceptance test was a major step in Firefly’s progress towards its first flight scheduled for late Autumn 2020.
Max Polyakov, founder of Noosphere and Firefly Aerospace mentioned in a press release that the launch of the rocket will not only be a major milestone for their company, but also for the entire Noosphere organization. They are building a large space vertical, which includes many companies, and they will soon be ready to provide a full range of services in space: from satellites and control systems to launching and data analysis.
The Firefly Alpha rocket maiden launch is scheduled to happen at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Firefly Aerospace has launched a DREAM competition, in which anyone could take part, and the winners’ projects were given a place in the rocket to go into space.
