“We’re not a company that’s struggling to get back on its feet.”That “full force” has include extensive development work of a new, larger version of the Alpha launch vehicle. This video shows the startup sequence of an engine, filmed at 1,000 frames per second. “After you’ve done that, you’re ready to start producing flight hardware.”Around the time the second stage goes into qualification testing, the first stage should be ready for its initial tests. Reavers are a fictional group of humans in the television series Firefly and subsequent film Serenity who live on the fringes of civilized space and have become animalistic. Markusic said that reflects what the market is looking for both in terms of price and performance.“If we can build this rocket and get it to flight on time, we will have no problem filling up our launch manifest,” he said. Markusic said the company was on track for a first launch in September 2019.Firefly has selected a launch site for its initial missions. Noosphere Ventures is providing all the capital the company currently needs, Markusic said, but didn’t give a specific dollar amount. “Commercial lunar cargo is something that’s interesting to us as a potential large-scale growth path for the company,” he said.That could start with providing launch services to companies developing lunar lander missions for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. He declined to give a specific number of launches covered by those letters, other than it’s “more launches than we can probably do.”Firefly is looking to the U.S. government as one of its markets. “We’re transitioning right now into that full vehicle integration stage,” he said, with testing of the vehicle’s upper stage set to begin soon. In May, the company announced an agreement with the U.S. Air Force to take over Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W), a launch pad currently used by United Launch Alliance’s Delta 2. Building on the Firefly Alpha, the Firefly Beta will rely on 12 Reaver first-stage engines and a Lightning upper stage to carry 4,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit.

One that Markusic highlighted is NASA’s return to the moon. It’s kinda like Moore’s Law being applied to satellites.”Firefly Alpha’s first stage will consist of four Reaver 1 engines to produce a total of 163,841 pounds (728.8 kilonewtons) of thrust, according to the Markusic said the project has cost the company about $100 million.“We’re trying to be very frugal,” Markusic said. Those people are really forming the core, the backbone of this new company.”“We’ve got a lot to do in the next year, but we’re really on track,” he said near the end of the interview. “Having gone through that pain and coming back, I think, speaks a lot to their dedication. Innovations in Firefly engines include our simple “Crossfire” injector, tap-off geometry, dual-mounted electrically actuated, trim-able propellant main valves, and ultra-compact horizontal turbopump mounting.

The company was one of three that won NASA contracts for smallsat launches, with plans to carry out that launch in early 2018.Then the bottom fell out of the company. “I feel very blessed and fortunate, given what we’ve been through. In June, the company announced its first firm launch contract, with Surrey Satellite Technology. “To me, that reflects that smart people have looked at this, and looked at the market, and concluded we’re in the right spot.”In the interview, Markusic reiterated past statements that he sees the biggest competition to Alpha coming from outside the U.S., particularly from China as well as India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, which has become a popular option for launching smallsats as secondary payloads.“I continue to believe that India’s PSLV and perhaps some of the Chinese entrants are our primary competition,” he said.