WASHINGTON – Three small missile vehicle developers have won a total of $ 16.7 million in NASA contracts as part of an effort to support the development of new missile vehicles.
Astra Space, Firefly Aerospace and Relative Space have won contracts through NASA’s Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) 2 program, the company announced on December 11th. The companies will launch the cubes provided by NASA in those missions, which will be required by the end of June 2022.
In a request for plans released in July, the company requested plans for two specific types of trips. One, called Mission One, will propel 30 kilograms of cubes into oblique orbit in the middle of 500 kilometers. The other, Mission Two, will propel 75 kilograms of cubes into a 550-kilometer solar-synchronous orbit and 20 kilograms into similar orbit, but at least 10 degrees lower on an airplane.
Astra won the $ 3.9 million contract, which the company has confirmed for Mission One. Firefly, through its government service subsidiary Firefly Block, won a $ 9.8 million contract with Mission Two. Relativity won a contract worth $ 3.0 million, but did not say in a statement what type of work its contract was for. The company did not respond to a request for comment on the deal.
None of the three companies has ever put a payload in orbit. Astra made its first orbital launch attempt in September from Alaska’s Pacific Spaceport Complex on Kodiak Island, but a problem with the rocket’s guidance system caused a machine to stop, causing it to crash near the rocket launch site.
Astra is currently in Kodiak in the launch campaign for its Rocket 3.2 vehicle. The company has postponed a release attempt to December 11 due to bad weather, and says its next launch attempt will not be earlier than December 14.
Firefly is preparing to launch its first alpha rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. That release is now expected in the first quarter of 2021, the company said in a statement regarding its VCLS2 deal.
Relativity is currently developing its Terron 1 rocket, with the first launch expected in late 2021, the company announced last month when it raised $ 500 million in Series T financial rounds.
This is a follow-up to the original VCLS program launched by NASA in 2015 in support of small missile vehicle development. It awarded contracts to Firefly Space Systems, Rocket Lab and Virgin Galactic to launch NASA-sponsored cubes.
Rocket Lab launched its VCLS mission to NASA in December 2018 with 10 cubes. Firefly Space lost its contract in 2016 when the company filed for bankruptcy. The company’s assets were acquired and the company was restructured in 2017 as Firefly Aerospace.
Virgin Galactic has transformed its launcherone air-launch program into a separate entity, Virgin Orbit, which now owns the VCLS contract. The company plans to launch the flight as soon as December 19 by loading 10 NASA-sponsored cubes.
However, Virgin Orbit announced in late December 12th This put a halt to the release products The day before the COVID-19 agreement “led to new precautionary isolations.” The company said it did not have enough staff to “proceed with pre-launch operations prudently and safely”, thus halting preparations for the wet clothing rehearsal, which was in effect prior to the launch attempt.
“As far as the deadline associated with accurate Govt-19 test results is concerned, this will affect our release schedule,” the company said. “We are evaluating that impact now. We will be ready to fly soon, but the health of our team and their families is at the forefront of our decisions.”