This week, Firefly Aerospace announced their first successful hot fire test of their Miranda rocket engine that might be the primary stage of Northrop Grumman’s Antares 330 and their very own Medium Lift Vehicle.
The test is a serious step forward for the corporate as they’re aiming to fulfill a mid-2025 launch goal for the brand new rocket.
The MLV (and Antares 330) will utilize 7 Miranda engines on the primary stage and might be capable of manufacturing 1.6 million kilos of thrust and the flexibility to deliver as much as 10,000 kg of payload to the International Space Station on the Antares 330.
![](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/MLV-w-NG-Launch-Composite-04.16.2023b-1-scaled-e1681737507835-2048x1223-1.jpg)
A render of the Medium Launch Vehicle (Credit Firefly Aerospace)
The MLV might be able to sending as much as 16,000 kg low Earth orbit as it can utilize the Miranda vacuum engine whereas the Antares 330 will use a Castor 30XL solid-fueled rocket motor for its first launches before an eventual transition to the Miranda vacuum engine.
The Miranda engine uses liquid oxygen and rocket propellant-1 (RP-1), and triethylaluminium-triethylborane to ignite the engine, which produces the fast green flash seen within the photo above. The MLV will stand 55.7 meters (183 feet) tall and could have a 5.2-meter payload fairing
CEO of Firefly Aerospace, Bill Weber, had this to say, “The incredible progress on our Miranda engines – designed, built, and tested in-house in only over a 12 months – is one other example of Firefly setting a brand new standard within the industry, constructing on the legacy of Firefly’s rapidly developed Reaver and Lightning engines, Miranda is the fastest propulsion system we’ve built and tested thus far. This achievement reflects our rapid, iterative culture and our vertically integrated approach that permits us to quickly scale up the flight-proven engine architecture from our small launch vehicle, Alpha, to our Medium Launch Vehicle.”
The following step for Firefly might be a full-duration hot-fire of the Mirdan engine that can last roughly 206 seconds.
As for what’s next for the corporate, they’re targeting a launch in December for Flight 004 of their Alpha rocket that can carry a Lockheed Martin electronically steerable antennae payload demonstrator to low Earth orbit.
For those who’d prefer to see how the Alpha Rockets Reaver engine starts in slow motion, try this video below!