Max Polyakov’s Firefly Aerospace opens R&D center in Dnipro City, Ukraine
Max Polyakov was joined by the Ukrainian head of state, Petro Poroshenko, showcasing the new R&D center of his company, Firefly Aerospace’s branch opened in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in 2018. Firefly’s main goal is to provide economical satellite launches for a broad spectrum of entities. Photo Credit: fireflyspace.com
President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, joined the opening of a branch of the American company Firefly Aerospace, relaunched by Max Polyakov – in Dnipro, Ukraine. It is designed to develop lightweight rockets for launching cargo into space. The restart of the enterprise could help make advances to the aerospace industry in the country.
The main office of Firefly Aerospace is located in Austin, Texas. The company was relaunched by Max Polyakov and it is one of many ‘NewSpace’ firms that have been created within the past decade (Firefly Aerospace was founded in March of 2017) NewSpace is a movement within the aerospace industry with the primary goal of making access to space more accessible – and affordable. Additionally, the company led by Max Polyakov wants to overcome the administrative and logistical constraints, the ‘Red Tape’ associated with dependence on national space agencies.
According to Max Polyakov, the goal of the Firefly branch in Dnipro is to carry out experimental development in the field of technical and natural sciences. The equipment here should allow for the design, production, and experimental development of lightweight rocket elements such as Firefly α (Firefly Alpha) an oxygen rocket which is being developed to deliver up to 2,205 pounds (1,000 kg) or 600 kg to SSO of cargo to low-Earth orbit and up to 500 pounds (225 kg) to a Sun-synchronous orbit). Moreover, there is also Firefly β (currently in development at the prototype stage), which is assumed to consist of several Firefly Alpha modules and should be able to deliver up to 8,818 pounds (4,000 kg) to LEO (3,000 kg to SSO).
Max Polyakov presented the Research and Development Center to Petro Poroshenko and showcased the components and parts made for the space technology sector. The meeting concluded after the presentation explaining the company’s goals and achievements.
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