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Northrop Grumman Picks Firefly to Replace Russian Engines on Antares Rocket

posted by janrinok on Friday August 12 2022, @10:20AM   Printer-friendly
from the Senenity-now dept.

upstart writes:

Northrop Grumman picks Firefly to replace Russian engines on Antares rocket:

Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket is about to get an all-American upgrade with the help of Firefly Aerospace.

The two U.S. space companies announced Monday (Aug. 8) they are working together to build a new first stage for Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket while also developing a brand-new medium-lift booster for future launches. The partnership means Northrop Grumman will replace the current Antares rocket, which is built in Ukraine and powered by Russian engines, with a more powerful version (called the Antares 330) that can carry heavier payloads.

The move removes Northrop Grumman's dependency on Ukraine and Russia for critical components of the Antares rocket, which the company uses to fly Cygnus cargo ship missions to the International Space Station for NASA.

"Through our collaboration, we will first develop a fully domestic version of our Antares rocket, the Antares 330, for Cygnus space station commercial resupply services, followed by an entirely new medium class launch vehicle," Scott Lehr, Northrop Grumman's vice president and general manager, launch and missile defense systems, said in a statement (opens in new tab).

Related: Northrop Grumman's Cygnus boosts International Space Station's

Not THAT Firefly!

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by Opportunist on Friday August 12 2022, @10:37AM (4 children)

    by Opportunist (5545) on Friday August 12 2022, @10:37AM (#1266282)

    Any chance to rename it Serenity?

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by Freeman on Friday August 12 2022, @02:55PM (1 child)

      by Freeman (732) on Friday August 12 2022, @02:55PM (#1266317) Journal

      No, we don't want the Reavers to come for us.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"

      • (Score: 2) by liar on Friday August 12 2022, @07:51PM

        by liar (17039) on Friday August 12 2022, @07:51PM (#1266349)

        Two by two, hands of blue...

        --
        Noli nothis permittere te terere.

    • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Saturday August 13 2022, @02:10PM

      by Immerman (3985) on Saturday August 13 2022, @02:10PM (#1266435)

      You laugh, but that's totally their real naming convention.

      The Firefly Beta design uses 5 Reaver engines, while the latest redesign will use 7 Miranda engines. And as I recall there were a few other such hat-tips that I've forgotten.

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Saturday August 13 2022, @08:57PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Saturday August 13 2022, @08:57PM (#1266489) Journal

      Can they switch to Blue Origin BE-4 engines?

      --
      Every performance optimization is a grate wait lifted from my shoulders.
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