Max Polyakov’s Firefly Aerospace and Other Milestones of Space industry in 2017
The idea that space travel will soon become commonplace might not be that far from the truth after seeing the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship at the International Space Station on Wednesday, Aug 16. Regular supplies and experiments made up the latest payload, and it also managed to slip in some ice cream to the orbital lab staff.
Congratulating them, an European Space Agency astronaut named Andreas Morgenson in a radio message from NASA's Mission Control in Houston told the crew that they have earned themselves an extra treat.
This brings the number of cargo flights that has been done for Space X in Commercial Resupply Service contract with NASA to 12, while 8 more flights are still on deck. This young, wildlt successful startup is encouraging other space-centered entrepreneurs to try their hands at investments in space.
One of the new space companies that was recently bankrolled by Max Polyakov from Noosphere Ventures is known as Firefly Aerospace. They are determined to ensure that affordable and efficient ective space launch solutions are available to any clients who may not have the means to use the industry-prevalent huge orbital lifters. The payload capacity of the SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is 22,000 kilograms. These larger lifters will be a welcome development for those who are into huge projects. But, for the smaller agencies looking to get their microsatellites into orbit, these mega-projects are out of reach.
Smaller satellites are gaining popularity in every industry. The results that the huge satellites achieved in the past, can now be achieved by the smaller, lighter and more affordable devices that weigh a fraction of their predecessors. The weight of a microsatellite is between 10 and 100 kilograms - about that of a small child and a grown man. However, there are some that are so small that they can weigh just a single kilogram. These smaller satellites are sometimes used in clusters to outperform the larger cousins.
While they will never replace the need for large orbital satellites, there is a fast growing demand for ways to get these high-powered packages into space.
Despite this, many manufacturers of huge satellite lifters are still betting on the bigger is better principal. For example, SpaceX is scheduled to test their Falcon 9 Heavy towards the end of this year, with information from them indicating that they want to make even larger versions in the future.
Information coming from the S7 Space Transportation Systems Company of Russia also indicates that they will restart services from their Sea Launch floating platform. The 6000 kilogram Zenit-3SL is the only rocket that can work on this platform, which is still at least 12 times bigger than even the largest microsatellites would require.
The most common way to launch microsatellites today is to include them as secondary payloads on larger missions. The Israeli candidate for the $20-million Lunar X Prize, has been trying to hitch a ride on a Falcon 9 for years, and it now seems that they are going to miss SpaceX’s March 31, 2018 extended deadline. For Max Polyakov of Noosphere Ventures, the paradigm shift in the sector will come when these small-time players will be able to use smaller launchers like Firefly to get their payloads off the ground.
Firefly Space Systems went into bankruptcy in 2016. But, Max Polyakov of Noosphere Ventures didn’t want to see the technology go to waste. Through EOS launcher, Max Polyakov was able to buy both the technology and assets of the company and renamed it Firefly Aerospace. He brought back the CEO Thomas Markusic, and most of the lead engineers. Max Polyakov and Noosphere Ventures did this under the belief that the reduced but high powered workforce would be the catalyst that the company needs. They plan to launch their first rocket by 2019.
