Connect with us

News

DeepSpace: Firefly’s Alpha rocket to get a massive upgrade with ion thruster boost stage ⚡ ?

Published

on

Eric Ralph · June 18th, 2019

Welcome to the latest edition of DeepSpace! Each week, Teslarati space reporter Eric Ralph hand-crafts this newsletter to give you a breakdown of what’s happening in the space industry and what you need to know. To receive this newsletter (and others) directly and join our member-only Slack group, give us a 3-month trial for just $5.


Although the company quietly teased the concept for the first time several months ago, Firefly has released a detailed update on its Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV), an ambitious spacecraft meant to complement its Alpha and Beta launch vehicles. If Firefly can deliver on the independent spacecraft’s technical promises, the combination of Alpha (~$15M) and OTV could help usher in a new era of small, high-performance satellites launched on small, high-performance rockets.

In fact, Rocket Lab – currently the world’s only truly commercial smallsat launch provider – has already demonstrated the power of this new paradigm, albeit on a smaller scale. After just one failed attempt, the first successful orbital launch of the company’s Electron rocket also marked the surprise debut of a tiny third stage used to circularize the payload’s orbit. After five successful uses in orbit, Rocket Lab has taken its third stage a step further, adding redundant avionics, solar arrays, and more to effectively create an independent spacecraft/satellite bus called Photon. By all appearances, Firefly’s OTV is much larger than Photon but is functionally quite similar. By taking advantage of Alpha’s significant performance benefits compared to Electron, Firefly has designed a third stage/spacecraft capable of delivering hundreds of kilograms to geostationary orbit, the Moon, and (perhaps) beyond.

Changing the delta V game

  • Generally speaking, OTV is quite small. According to Firefly’s Payload User’s Guide, the spacecraft will weigh just 130 kg (285 lb) dry and will carry perhaps 30-70 kg of xenon fuel for its electric ion thrusters. This is a critical differentiator relative to Rocket Lab’s Photon and kick stage, which rely on the inefficient (but simple and reliable) Curie chemical rocket engine.
    • According to Firefly, Alpha is designed to launch a max of 1000 kg (2200 lb) to a 200 km (125 mi) low Earth orbit (LEO). Given OTV’s ~200 kg wet mass, Alpha + OTV offer some incredible capabilities relative to the rocket’s size and design.
    • Powerful electric thrusters undeniably add a lot of complexity to any spacecraft that chooses to use them but that pain is often deemed worth it for the benefits they can offer. Most notably, ion propulsion is extremely efficient.
This graph demonstrates the potential performance benefits of Alpha + OTV relative to Alpha on its own. (Firefly)
  • Thanks to OTV’s efficient electric thrusters and light carbon composite structure, the potential benefits of Alpha + OTV are hard to believe for a rocket as (relatively) small as Alpha.
  • On its own, Alpha can only deliver a meaningful payload (~100 kg) to perhaps 4000 km (2500 mi). With OTV, Alpha can suddenly deliver ~600 kg to a circular geostationary orbit (~36,000 km, 22,300 mi) and upwards of 400-500 kg into orbit around the Moon.
    • For reference, despite weighing around 10% of Falcon 9, Alpha and OTV would offer perhaps 10-15% the performance of Falcon 9 to trans lunar injection (TLI). This utterly defies the general rule of thumb that as a rocket gets significantly smaller, its performance (particularly to higher-energy orbits) deteriorates disproportionately.
  • With OTV, Alpha – nominally a ~$15M launch vehicle relegated to LEO payloads – becomes an incredibly intriguing option for small geostationary communications satellites and small-scale public and private exploration of the Moon, near Earth asteroids, and maybe even Mars/Venus.
  • According to a senior Firefly investor and board member, Firefly hopes to have OTV ready for its orbital debut on Alpha’s third launch, tentatively scheduled no earlier than mid-2020.

Alpha readies for launch

  • Of course, OTV is a bird without wings without Firefly’s Alpha launch vehicle. Weighing 54,000 kg (120,000 lb) fully-fueled, Alpha is a two-stage rocket that will stand 1.8m (6ft) wide and 29m (95ft) tall. Powered by four Reaver engines, the first stage will produce ~740 kN (166,000 lbf), approximately 85% of one of Falcon 9’s nine Merlin 1D engines.
  • Firefly is working relentlessly towards an ambitious December 2019 Alpha launch debut, a target that will probably slip into early 2020 due to the inherent complexity of the task at hand. Critically, though, Firefly has made a huge amount of progress towards that goal.
    • Notably, Firefly’s second stage – powered by one vacuum-optimized Lightning engine – has already been qualified for launch with full-duration static fires at the company’s Texas facilities. Firefly is in the midst of preparing for an identical series of qualification tests for its more powerful first stage, shown above in the form of one Reaver engine attached to an Alpha S1 thrust structure.
    • As early as July, a full set of four Reaver engines will be installed on the same thrust structure to perform static fire testing, much like SpaceX gradually added Merlin 1D engines during Falcon 9 development testing.
  • If all goes as planned, Firefly will have completed its first Alpha rocket – first stage, second stage, and payload fairing – by October or November 2019. Expect plenty of new photos and updates as Alpha nears its inaugural launch.
Thanks for being a Teslarati Reader! Become a member today to receive an issue of DeepSpace in your inbox each week!

– Eric

 

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

Advertisement
Comments

News

SpaceX just launched a secret payload from California

SpaceX launched a classified Space Force mission from Vandenberg, revealing almost nothing about its payload.

Published

on

By

Space Force officials say the Falcon 9 booster pictured here in SpaceX's rocket factory will have to wait a few months longer for its launch debut. (SpaceX)

SpaceX launched a classified Falcon 9 mission for the U.S. Space Force from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday night, and the government released almost nothing about what was on board. The mission, designated USSF-366, lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E with a window that opened at 9:52 p.m. ET and ran into the early hours of Sunday, according to SpaceX’s own mission page, which described the payload only as classified. SpaceX confirmed the launch on its X account and pointed viewers to a livestream that began roughly ten minutes before liftoff.


The lack of detail did not stop analysts from filling in the blanks. Independent tracking of the rocket’s stage drop zones matched the pattern SpaceX has used on previous Starlink Group 15 missions, according to reporting from Outer Space Today, which pointed to Starshield as the likely payload rather than a one off government satellite. Starshield is SpaceX’s national security product, a version of the Starlink satellite bus built to Pentagon specifications for earth observation, communications and hosted payloads. Unlike consumer Starlink, government agencies do not have to disclose what Starshield satellites are actually doing once they reach orbit.

USSF-366 is the latest entry in a steady flow of classified and semi classified work between SpaceX and the Space Force. The company picked up a $178.5 million task order in April to launch missile tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency, as Teslarati reported at the time, and followed that in July with a $1.6 billion award covering 18 more Falcon 9 missions from Vandenberg through the end of 2027, also detailed by Teslarati. Add those contracts up and SpaceX’s Pentagon business for 2026 alone tops $8 billion.

SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites

The Falcon 9 that flew Saturday landed back near the launch site, producing the sonic booms that have become routine for residents near Vandenberg. What is less routine is how little the public will likely ever learn about what the rocket carried. SpaceX and the Space Force have not confirmed the Starshield connection, and government satellite programs built on commercial buses rarely get identified beyond a mission number and a general orbit. For a company that live streams almost everything else it does, from Starship test flights to Optimus robot demos, USSF-366 is a reminder that some of SpaceX’s busiest work now happens entirely out of public view.

Advertisement
-
-
Continue Reading

News

Tesla V2L adapter for Model Y stirs up a new complaint among owners

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

On Friday, Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter that enabled Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) energy transfer, meaning owners could essentially utilize their cars as a power source for things like laptops, electric grills, or string lights.

However, even owners of some of the newest builds of the Model Y are finding out that their cars are not compatible with the new $80 accessory, stirring up a new complaint among members of the community.

Tesla launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.

Upon the release of the Outlet Adapter on Friday, I signed into my Tesla account to order the accessory. However, I was met with the dreaded “This product is not compatible with your 2026 Model Y” message at the bottom of the screen.

Some said their accounts also displayed the same message, but they ordered anyway. However, they might be surprised to find that this is no mistake; some of the newest Model Ys do not have the appropriate Power Conversion System (PCS). Mine, which was ordered on this day last year and delivered on August 31, has the old 48A, single-phase PCS.

Vehicles with the new, two-piece PCS are able to utilize V2L features on their cars:

Obviously, it’s disappointing. Many owners have taken delivery this year and still can not utilize the Outlet Adapter because their cars feature the old PCS:

It looks like if you have one of these older PCS units, you can upgrade, but the parts alone are $1,750, and that’s before Tesla adds labor for installing. It is honestly more logical to get some kind of portable power supply or power station at that point.

Advertisement
-
-

It is great that Tesla has enabled V2L for Model Y vehicles, but it is also unfortunate that vehicles that are less than one year old are not able to take advantage of this awesome new feature.

With that being said, it truly is a first-world problem; can you really complain when Full Self-Driving is available, maintenance is incredibly inexpensive, and the car has been so good through a year of ownership?

Continue Reading

News

Tesla launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has launched a new Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y vehicles in the United States, meaning you can now power devices like laptops or light strings with your vehicle’s battery.

It appears the capability will be available for any Model Y Premium trim, including those that were purchased prior to the Adapter being launched. It will also only impact Juniper Model Y vehicles, so the first-gen owners will unfortunately not have access to this capability.

If your Model Y was purchased before Tesla renamed the trim levels to “Premium” and “Standard,” it does not seem to be compatible. My Model Y is technically a Premium build, as it is the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive. However, Tesla says it is not compatible with my vehicle.

For $80, you can now utilize your car as a portable charger for small appliances or devices. This is perfect for things like tailgates, concerts, or camping, as you can now plug in devices that you might use. Those string lights for camping? That laptop for the other games that are on at the tailgate?

Advertisement
-
-

They’ll both utilize energy from your Tesla’s battery to be powered. This is the first time Tesla has expanded the capability to vehicles outside of the Model Y Performance and Cybertruck. However, this feature has been highly requested by owners for an extended period of time.

Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter in China last year:

Tesla China rolls out Model Y L V2L adapter, and it’s free for early owners

You will need the Mobile Connector to operate the Outlet Adapter: the Outlet Adapter will plug into the main housing of the Mobile Connector, where the appropriate adapter to charge your vehicle will plug in.

It is rated for 120 volts and 20 amps, and has a max power rating of 2.4kW.

You can buy it here from Tesla for $80.

Advertisement
-
-
Continue Reading