by SIMONA SILVESTRI
Firefly Aerospace Inc. is a Briggs, Texas-based space transportation company that provides launch, lunar and in-space services. The company is using a new automated fiber placement (AFP) machine to rapidly fabricate carbon composite structures.
In addition, the machinery was recently used to build Firefly's first carbon composite barrel for MLV development testing.
Dan Fermon, the COO of Firefly aerospace Inc. said, "Firefly's new AFP machinery, which is already widely used and proven in the aviation industry, is a significantly more efficient and cost-effective approach to rocket manufacturing and can be used to produce composite parts for our vehicles."
Later, he added, "These high-speed robotic machines can accumulate more than 200 pounds of carbon fiber per hour, allowing us to produce all the large carbon composite structures for Alpha in just seven days and MLV in just 30 days. This is about nine times faster and seven times cheaper than our previous process using high-touch laser positioning systems."
In addition to the AFP machinery, Firefly is installing a new 7-axis robotic mill to quickly and accurately drill and finish carbon composite structures.
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06 March 2024
