Firefly Aerospace accomplished a remarkable feat as it successfully launched a satellite for the U.S. Space Force with just 24 hours’ notice. This achievement highlights the company’s rapid launch capabilities for national security missions. The Space Force provided Firefly with the launch notice on September 13, initiating the 24-hour countdown.
Within this tight timeframe, Firefly completed the necessary launch preparations, updated the flight software trajectory, encapsulated the payload made by Millennium Space Systems, and integrated it with the Firefly Alpha rocket.
The mission, named Victus Nox, departed from the launch pad a mere 27 hours after receiving the launch notice. Bill Weber, CEO of Firefly Aerospace, hailed the mission’s success, emphasizing its significance for national security needs and praising the combined efforts of the commercial and government teams in executing this complex responsive space mission.
Notably, this mission established a new record for responsive space launches within the commercial space industry, surpassing the previous record set by Northrop Grumman at 21 days. It’s worth mentioning that this mission was only the third in Firefly’s nine-year history.
In addition to Firefly’s achievement, Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing subsidiary, successfully met its own challenge during the mission. They had 60 hours to transport the spacecraft from El Segundo, California to Vandenberg Space Force Base and integrate it with Alpha’s payload adaptor, and they accomplished this task in just 58 hours.
Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, commander of Space Systems Command within the Space Force, emphasized the significance of this achievement in demonstrating the nation’s ability to rapidly deter adversary aggression and respond with decisive capabilities when needed, all within tactically relevant timelines. The Space Force’s interest in leveraging private industry for rapid launch capabilities was evident in its award of $17.6 million to Firefly for this mission.
