WASHINGTON — Firefly Aerospace and Millennium Space Systems announced Aug. 30 that they’re standing by waiting for orders from the U.S. Space Force to arrange to launch a satellite on short notice.
The businesses were chosen last yr to conduct an indication of a rapid-response space mission to low Earth orbit often known as Victus Nox.
Although this mission has been promoted as a 24-hour call-up, it’s being planned in multiple stages and the businesses have spent months rehearsing and preparing. The intent of the demonstration is to assist the Space Force and the space industry contractors determine processes to speed up the planning and execution of national security missions.
Firefly and Millennium at the moment are officially in a six-month “hot standby phase.” At any point during that point the Space Force will give the businesses an alert notification, kicking off a 60-hour window to move the payload to Firefly’s launch site at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. conduct fueling operations and integrate it with the Alpha rocket’s payload adapter.
Space Force officials will then issue Firefly a launch notice with the ultimate orbit requirements. Firefly will then have 24 hours to update the trajectory and guidance software, encapsulate the payload, transport it to the pad, mate to Alpha, and stand able to launch at the primary available window.
The payload is a small imaging satellite built by Millennium Space, a subsidiary of Boeing. It’ll fly on Firefly’s expendable Alpha small-satellite launcher.
‘Multiple rehearsals’
“We’ll be setting a brand new standard, proving nominal launch operations could be accomplished in a matter of hours moderately than weeks to months,” said Bill Weber, CEO of Firefly Aerospace.
Once the payload is deployed in low Earth orbit, Millennium will try to activate the satellite in lower than 48 hours, after which begin to trace and image objects in orbit.
“What we’re doing with Victus Nox has never been done before,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Millennium Space Systems.
In preparation for the mission, Firefly said, it manufactured and tested major vehicle components and engine, and conducted a static fire. Firefly and Millennium also accomplished multiple rehearsals in preparation for launch, which included packing and delivering a satellite mockup to Firefly’s integration facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base to practice launch operations throughout the prescribed 24 hours.