CEDAR PARK, Texas, Oct. 29,
2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Firefly Aerospace, Inc., a
leading provider of economical and dependable launch vehicles,
spacecraft, and in-space services, today announced a substantial
commitment to increase its manufacturing capacity by transitioning
large parts manufacturing to Automated Fiber Placement (AFP)
Mongoose Hybrid systems from Ingersoll Machine Tools beginning next
year. Once fully operational, Firefly's AFP capabilities will
enable it to produce its all-composite Alpha rocket airframe in as
little as fourteen days.
"From the outset Firefly chose to utilize 21st
century materials and manufacturing processes in our spacecraft and
rocket designs. Metallics were the most prevalent aerospace
material of the last century; composites, which are stronger and
lighter than metallics, are the choice for modern aircraft.
Firefly's Alpha is the world's largest all-carbon-fiber liquid
fueled rocket," said Firefly CEO Dr. Tom
Markusic. "High speed, robotic, large-scale automated fiber
placement (AFP) machines, like those produced by Ingersoll Machine
Tools, are now widely utilized in the aircraft industry. These
machines essentially allow you to 3D print composite structures of
very large dimensions (e.g., commercial aircraft), something that
is significantly more challenging with metallic 3D printing. Given
that we can simply purchase machines which have been developed and
proven by the aircraft industry and immediately achieve major cost,
weight, and production time savings, it's obvious to us that AFP is
the most efficient and cost-effective approach to future rocket
production. Firefly intends to pass those savings on to our
customers."
Firefly will install the first of two planned AFP systems in
May 2021 at its manufacturing and
test facility in Briggs, Texas,
where Alpha will be requalified using AFP manufacturing processes.
Firefly's new Florida Space Coast
factory and launch site at Cape Canaveral will house the second
automated assembly line beginning 2022 and will ultimately be
capable of producing an estimated 24 Alpha rockets per year, with
the Briggs plant switching to
automated developmental builds of the larger Beta launch
vehicle.
Firefly will leverage the same AFP that leading aerospace
companies are increasingly using to more efficiently manufacture
the latest composite airframes for commercial airliners and
government aircraft and fighter jets, ranging from the Boeing 787
and Airbus A350 to F-35s. Once up and running at capacity,
Firefly's AFP system will fabricate all carbon-fiber structures of
an Alpha rocket, including barrels, fairings, domes, and payload
components, in as little as fourteen days.
Firefly's Mongoose Hybrid will be the first equipped with
Ingersoll's new Hawk fiber delivery module, designed and tested for
high productivity and high-reliability layup of mild curvature
surfaces. Mongoose Hybrid also features Ingersoll's automatic
exchange of multiple composite manufacturing modules operating in
adjacent workzones, allowing automated layup on multiple tools
without human intervention.
Firefly's new automated rocket factories will produce a broad
range of benefits, including a 30-50% reduction in composite
materials waste, increased repeatability, reduced touch labor and
build times, and a tailored and optimized structure that further
reduces weight and overall costs.
"Ingersoll is thrilled to bring our vast experience in automated
composite manufacturing and robotics across the aerospace industry
into the world of space rocketry and exploration with Firefly,"
said Chip Storie, CEO of Ingersoll
Machine Tools. "Ingersoll has played an important role in enabling
breakthrough airframe production for major aircraft designs around
the world, including the 787 and A350, and we look forward to
supporting Firefly and its innovative approach to the efficient and
cost-effective production and further development of its Alpha,
Beta, and future spacecraft."
"As Firefly approaches our first Alpha launch, our focus is
transitioning to scaling our operational capabilities to meet the
fast-growing commercial, government, and scientific mission demand
for space access with the lightest, strongest, fastest built
precision-made rocket in the industry," added Dr. Markusic. "The
integration of Ingersoll's factory automation technology into our
production lines in Texas and
Florida represents a major investment in our future as a company
and in the future of the cis-lunar space economy."
ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE
Firefly is developing a family of launch and in-space vehicles
and services that provide industry-leading affordability,
convenience and reliability. Firefly's launch vehicles utilize
common technologies, manufacturing infrastructure and launch
capabilities, providing LEO launch solutions for up to four metric
tons of payload at the lowest cost/kg in the small-lift class.
Combined with Firefly's in-space vehicles, such as the Orbital
Transfer Vehicle and Genesis Lander,
Firefly provides the space industry with a one-stop shop for
missions to the surface of the Moon or beyond. Headquartered
in Cedar Park, TX, Firefly is
financed by Max Polyakov's Noosphere
Ventures of Menlo Park, CA.
Firefly Contact
Eric Salwan
512-277-6959
press@firefly.com
ABOUT INGERSOLL MACHINE TOOLS
Ingersoll Machine Tools Inc is a leader in advanced
manufacturing processes and a global supplier of additive and
subtractive machine tools for the aerospace, defense, energy and
all heavy industrial sectors. The Ingersoll product lineup includes
MasterMill™, PowerMill™ and SuperProfiler™ for accurate, reliable,
high-speed milling and trimming of large, complex-geometry parts
made of aluminum, titanium and hard metals; Mongoose™ and Mongoose
Hybrid™, for the composite manufacturing of aircrafts', rockets'
and vessels' structures; MasterPrint™, the largest existing
thermoplastic 3D printer, capable to produce extra-large, hollow,
parts in a single piece for the aerospace and the marine sectors.
Ingersoll runs these very same machines at its Development Center
to manufacture key-components for many aerospace and defense
programs. Together with Innse-Berardi (Lombardy, Italy), Ingersoll is part of the
Camozzi Machine Tools division of the Camozzi Group. With 40
subsidiaries in 75 countries, 2950 employees, 5 operating divisions
and 23 production sites, the Camozzi Group is a global
leader in the supply of components and systems for industrial
automation and operates in other strategic sectors: Automation,
Manufacturing, Digitalization and Textile Machinery.
Ingersoll Contact
Piergiorgio Assandri
815 298 5985
passandri@ingersoll.com
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SOURCE Firefly Aerospace, Inc.