Firefly Aerospace is a Texas-based private aerospace company that provides end-to-end space transportation services. It specializes in the development of small to medium-lift launch vehicles like the Alpha rocket and lunar landers such as Blue Ghost, along with on-orbit services using its Elytra space tug. Firefly works with partners like NASA and ESA, securing contracts for commercial lunar payload services and missions to the far side of the Moon. The company aims to provide affordable and reliable space access for government and commercial customers, contributing to lunar and cislunar exploration.
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Firefly Aerospace labeled the 2022-10-01 Alpha flight as a 100% mission success.
Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha launch vehicle reached orbit on its second launch on 2023-10-01.
Firefly Space Transport Services and Millennium Space Systems won contracts for the TacRS-3 mission, a space domain awareness small satellite projected to launch in 2023.
NASA added Firefly Aerospace to the Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract on 2023-09-09, citing a need for a provider capable of launching payloads between 500 and 1,000 kg.
U.S. Space Systems Command selected Firefly Space Transport Services and Millennium Space Systems on 2022-09-30 to conduct a demonstration of a rapid-response space mission to low Earth orbit in 2023.
Space Systems Command awarded a launch service task order to Firefly Space Transport Services on 2022-09-29 for a single launch service for the VICTUS NOX mission.
Spaceflight and Rocket Factory Augsburg plan to partner on future launches to provide increased launch flexibility and competitively priced launches to LEO and beyond.
Firefly Aerospace won a CLPS award in February 2021 for the Blue Ghost lander, which is scheduled to fly to the moon on a Falcon 9 in 2024.
Spaceflight Inc. signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Rocket Factory Augsburg AG to fly Sherpa® orbital transfer vehicles and other rideshare payloads on upcoming RFA missions from multiple European launch sites, including facilities in the United Kingdom and French Guiana.
Firefly Space Transport Services is evaluating reusability for the company’s Alpha vehicle and the future Medium Launch Vehicle to be developed with Northrop Grumman based on business case and customer demand.
Firefly received a $9,800,000 award for the VCLS Demo 2, which is being prepared for integration and will be flown on Firefly’s Alpha Flight 3 mission planned for later in 2022.
The VADR contract awarded to Firefly is a fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a five-year ordering period and a maximum total value of $300,000,000 across all contracts.
NASA selected Firefly Space Transport Services to provide launch services for the agency’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) missions in the 500–1,000 kg grouping utilizing Firefly’s Alpha rocket.
Spaceflight and Astrocast partnered to launch an additional five smallsats on SpaceX Transporter-1 in January 2021.
Spaceflight previously launched all 12 of Astrocast’s spacecraft into orbit, including demonstration models launched on the SSO-A mission in 2018 and PSLV-C45 in 2019.
Astrocast extended its multi-launch agreement with Spaceflight in March 2022 to accommodate its expanding IoT constellation.
Firefly Aerospace has partnered with Northrop Grumman Corporation to develop an American-built first-stage upgrade for the Antares rocket and a new medium-lift launch vehicle to serve commercial, civil, and national security space launch markets.
Firefly Aerospace has scheduled the second launch of its Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base for 2022-09-11.
The Firefly–Northrop Grumman collaboration will provide American-built engines to replace the Russian-made RD-181 engines.
Firefly Aerospace completed a static-fire test of Alpha rocket’s first stage and planned a launch for 2023-09-11, from Vandenberg Space Force Base.