Firefly Aerospace Begins Integrated Stage Testing
Firefly commences integrated stage testing for the Alpha launch vehicle. The development tanks and fluid systems were installed on Briggs Test Stand 2. Integrated Lightning engine testing continues on Test Stand 1. Fully integrated hot fire tests of Alpha stage 2 coming soon. pic.twitter.com/0kVf85L42F
— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) July 29, 2018
2 responses to “Firefly Aerospace Begins Integrated Stage Testing”
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Looks like a neat facility. Hope to see some good pics of fire coming soon.
The unconfirmed rumor among former Fireflies (like me) is that the lawsuit was settled with a combination of personal restrictions on Dr. Markusic’s future product design participation on particular potential technical choices as well as transfer of significant contested Firefly Space Systems IP assets and prototypes to Virgin Galactic. Firefly Aerospace appears to be a new company, with different ownership, different propulsion technology, and a larger rocket, but with some of the same key players and some of the same capital assets (like the Briggs test site and the logo).
In my uninformed opinion, a sudden unexpected ‘redirection’ of anticipated funding streams drove the rapid financial collapse and then that forced the resolution of the legal issue in order to clear the way to re-homing the orphaned assets, rather than it being the other way around.