“RocketLaunch.Live already shows that CRS2 NG-22 (Cygnus) is scheduled for a Falcon 9 later this year, But the month is unspecified. They list no other future Cygnus launches, though.”

Interesting. Good catch.

If they are, there’s no sign of it in anything we’ve seen built or planned so far.

I think it’s unlikely for now. Losing the legs saves mass, but it requires software, comms, and org experience that Firefly just is not in a position to supply easily right now.

SpaceX did this for both Falcon 9 and Starship. I would not be surprised that they will test their accuracy in finding the landing point before trying to land on one. This makes sense, because Blue Origin’s first landing attempt ended in a crash.

“So it seems, at minimum, the Cygnus mission this fall (NG-22) and, likely, the one next spring (NG-25) will have to contract launches on Falcon 9’s, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this has already been quietly done and just not announced yet.”

RocketLaunch.Live already shows that CRS2 NG-22 (Cygnus) is scheduled for a Falcon 9 later this year, But the month is unspecified. They list no other future Cygnus launches, though.

A wire/trapeze might be more manageable and save still more weight.

Two items:

1. “Firefly says Eclipse is being built for re-usability, but the graphics of the rocket, as shown above, are puzzling in that they show grid fins but no landing legs.”

Don’t know if you saw it but Eric Berger followed up on that tweet you linked asking if they were really serious about reusability. The Firefly team responded: “Yes! Eclipse will have a reusable first stage. We’re taking an iterative approach and will be testing capabilities on the initial flights.” It could be that they might just test the grid fins on initial flights, and then install legs when they’re ready try go for a full on hard landing?

2. “This guarantees that SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is going to get more launch contracts taking Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus capsule to ISS.”

I think this seems inevitable, too, though some readers might not grok that the reason is a little more complicated: Eclipse is not going to be launching Cygnus cargo ships, but the rocket that will be, NG’s Antares 330, employs the same first stage as Eclipse. So if the first stage is indeed experiencing development delays….the Antares 330 will, too. Alas.

So it seems, at minimum, the Cygnus mission this fall (NG-22) and, likely, the one next spring (NG-25) will have to contract launches on Falcon 9’s, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this has already been quietly done and just not announced yet. Indeed, I suspect that Northrop most likely already had some sort of contingency contract with SpaceX right from the start, as a hedge against development delays in the Antares 330….

EDIT: Jeff Foust had a story back on March 23 that was based on an interview with Firefly CEO Jason Kim, which I missed at the time. Kim says there, too, that Eclipse is pushed back to 2027, but says that a first stage is being shipped to Northrop later this year for use in the first Antares 330 mission, and it’s more ambiguous what that means for the Antares timeline (but, likely safe to assume it’s being delayed as much as Eclipse, I suspect):

https://archive.is/2026.03.23-100559/https://spacenews.com/lunar-lander-developers-say-they-are-ready-to-meet-anticipated-increased-nasa-demand/