Firefly Aerospace's new rocket engine spouts green flames in 1st 'hot fire' test (photo)

Firefly Aerospace shared a photo of the first hot fire test of its new Miranda engine, slated for use aboard the upcoming Antares 330 rocket being developed along with Northrop Grumman.

Firefly Aerospace's new rocket engine spouts green flames in 1st 'hot fire' test (photo)
Firefly Aerospace's Miranda engine during test. (Image credit: Firefly Aersospace)

Firefly Aerospace conducted the first hot fire test of its new Miranda rocket engine, producing a massive plume of green flames.

Firefly's Miranda engine is slated to be used on the first stage of Northrop Grumman's Antares 330 rocket as well as the Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) the two companies are developing together.  The Antares 330 rocket is designed to carry more than 22,000 lbs of cargo to the International Space Station (10,000 kg), while the MLV will be able to loft 35,000 lbs (16,000 kg) of payload to low Earth orbit.

The Antares 330/MLV is slated to replace the Antares 230, which used Russian rocket engines and Ukrainian-built first stages. Due to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Northrop Grumman announced in 2022 that it would develop a fully domestic version of the rocket along with the new MLV. The first flight of the Antares 330 is currently projected to take place in mid-2025, while the MLV's maiden voyage should follow in late 2025.