Firefly Space Systems Apparently one of the main engineers from SpaceX left and founded his own company. Their goal is to fill the market for a cheap launch vehicle (8-9 million) for small payloads (100kg) and then a second vehicle for one size larger (1,000kg). They also mentioned the prospect of re-usability and I find their engine design intriguing, since it goes against the conventional engine design. The CEO was apparently one of the lead designers of the Falcon rockets. I don't know if, since the new Falcon 9 is a redesign, they are still drawing from his work. But I am excited to see more work being done on the re-usability front from someone other than just SpaceX and Elon Musk.
The comment I heard from a senior SpaceX executive was the reason SpaceX left that market segment was that the market was tiny. Hope the company does well, though.
Since their emblem is actually a firefly, maybe none? They could claim that it has no connection. It is hard to trademark an animal... although Apple comes close with their whole fruit thing, and then they went and attacked some food delivery company for having an apple as their logo... how does that happen? But, I like it, and I hope they make a Serenity rocket
True, I doubt Allied Spacecraft is likely to make an issue of it. And they're only on model alpha - a series 3 (!) is way off.
Maybe!!!! Allied Spacecraft got their idea for the Firefly space crafts from Firefly Space Systems? Ever think of that?
Recent interview with PJ King, COO of Firefly Space Systems: Firefly Space - 7.26 - YouTube (Segment starts at 12:43)
Here's a good article on Firefly Space Systems: Firefly Space Systems charges full-speed toward low Earth orbit | Ars Technica