Firefly Aerospace and Max Polyakov Plan to Build Rockets for Medium-Sized Missions
The founder of Firefly Aerospace, Max Polyakov, has expressed his interest in building rockets smaller than SpaceX. They want to serve the medium-load commercial spaceflight industry.
Firefly Aerospace and Max Polyakov Want to Build Rockets for Medium-Sized Missions
Max Polyakov has invested around $150 billion in the commercial spaceship industry and has gained recognition. With offices in Cedar Hill and a team of 300 members, his company, Firefly, is working on launching a rocket for medium-sized missions.
Firefly Aerospace has a large site in Austin, Texas and is planning to launch Alpha, its very first rocket, into low Earth orbit from the Vandenberg Airforce Base launching pad. Alpha is a 96-foot tall rocket with a cargo capacity of 2,000 pounds and is the young company’s first bid into an untapped niche of commercial spaceflight. The light-load commercial spaceflight niche is dominated by New Zealand’s Rocket Lab, which facilitates the transport of loads of around 650 pounds. Giants like SpaceX and Blue Origin take up the heavy-load niche, delivering payloads of over 18,000 pounds. Firefly Aerospace is also building a larger rocket, a reusable spaceplane, lunar landers, propulsion systems, and satellites.
About Author
