Firefly Aerospace has been awarded a contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base to develop a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) nozzle extension for liquid rocket engines, aiming to increase payload capacity while lowering production costs versus traditional metal nozzles.
Firefly's CEO said the company's combined expertise in carbon composites and rocket propulsion positions it well to build a composite nozzle extension that reduces launch vehicle mass. Traditional metal second-stage nozzle extensions tend to be heavy, costly to manufacture, and reliant on non-domestic raw materials; Firefly expects its composite approach to cut nozzle extension mass by more than 50%, while also shortening lead times from months to weeks using domestically available materials and a rapid spin-form process.
Firefly plans to design, build and test the composite nozzle extension using its existing composite manufacturing and rocket engine expertise, with eventual application to the Lightning and Vira second-stage engines that power its Alpha rocket and Medium Launch Vehicle.
Source: www.fireflyspace.com
