Welcome to edition 4.33 of the Rocket Report! I want to apologize for the lack of a report last week – I injured my wrist badly and had to type with one hand for a few days. This is not conducive to writing and editing a newsletter that often contains more than 2,000 words. There are also a huge number of things that are happening in space and on Earth, especially with Russia and Ukraine and the West. I’m working on a story about the ways spaceflight might be affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so find a story about that sometime Friday. Hopefully.
As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don’t want to miss any issue, please register using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-compatible versions of the site). Each report includes information on small, medium and heavy rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.
Relativity space to quickly get to Aeon-R engine†
To power its first Terran 1 rocket, Relativity Space is developing a small engine called Aeon 1. But the company only plans to use it for a few flights. Instead, Relativity plans to do a quick “block upgrade” for the Terran 1, which will serve as a bridge to the much larger, more capable Terran R missile. “We always thought Terran 1 would be a development platform,” said Tim Ellis, the co-founder and chief executive of Relativity Space, in an interview with Ars. The California-based company, which aims to 3D print most of its rocket parts, continues to work on Terran 1’s first launch this year.
From nine to one to nine … Powered by nine Aeon 1 rocket engines, this tiny Terran 1 rocket has a lift capacity of 1.25 tons to low Earth orbit. After these three demonstration flights, Relativity plans to upgrade the Terran 1 by moving from a nine-engine configuration to just a single Aeon-R engine. This engine, nine of which will eventually power the Terran R reusable rocket, is expected to have approximately 300,000 pounds of thrust, or more than 10 times that of the Aeon 1 engine. Ellis said the goal is to transition to Terran R flights as soon as possible, which are in high demand, but Relativity will continue to produce the Terran 1 with a single engine.
Virgin Galactic now expects profitability in 2026† In 2019, when Virgin Galactic went public, public statements predicted it would turn profitable by 2021. Now those expectations have shifted significantly, Ars reports. During a conference call with financial analysts this week, the company’s CEO, Michael Colglazier, said Virgin is designing and developing a “delta” class of starships that will have lower flight costs and can fly one mission per week. This new generation of spaceplanes should enter commercial service in 2025 or 2026, allowing Virgin Galactic to become cash-flow positive by 2026.
Need to scale, and do it fast … The company’s current flight speed is about one mission every 10 months, so skepticism is warranted. Nearly every spaceflight project in history has struggled to scale operations, whether because of technical challenges, production line problems, accidents, or all of the above. But it’s really do or die for the company’s financial future. During the last quarter of 2021, Virgin Galactic reported revenue of $141,000 and a net loss of $80 million. Virgin Galactic has lost $1 billion in the past two years, according to consolidated statements from the publicly traded company.
Firefly Says Alpha Is Ready For A Second Try† The Texas-based missile company said last week that both the first and second stages of the Alpha rocket have completed acceptance testing and are “ready to fly”. Firefly has not set a target date for the second launch attempt of the Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Alpha’s first test flight failed in September 2021 after one of the rocket’s four main engines failed 15 seconds after launch.
“History will judge you all” … After months of uncertainty, the US government forced Firefly’s Ukrainian lender, Max Polyakov, to sell his remaining stake in the company. It is believed that Firefly will not be allowed to work at Vandenberg while Polyakov still owned the company. The matter came to a head in mid-February, when Polyakov announced that on his Facebook page that he gave up his 58 percent stake in Firefly to CEO and co-founder Tom Markusic for $1. Polyakov accused US regulatory officials of betraying him, saying, “I hope you are happy now. History will judge you all .” However, the $1 story does not appear to be entirely true as private equity firm AE Industrial Partners announced on Thursday that it would acquire Polyakov’s stake for an undisclosed amount. (submitted by Ken de Bin)
