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 holds a Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) demonstration contract awarded in December 2020 valued at $9,800,000 to carry a set of NASA cubesats to orbit as soon as November.
Spaceflight is working with SpaceX on several missions following Transporter 5, including missions that will feature Sherpa OTVs such as the GeoPathfinder mission slated for next year.
Firefly Aerospace is developing the Blue Ghost lunar lander to fly a mission for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program in 2024.
AE Industrial Partners is a private equity firm that agreed to acquire a significant stake in Firefly Aerospace from Noosphere Venture Partners.
Spaceflight Inc. contracted launch and integration services from ISILAUNCH on behalf of Kleos for the KSF3 mission.
Firefly Aerospace announced on 2022-06-15 that Tom Markusic will step down as chief executive and assume the role of chief technical advisor effective 2022-06-16.
Italian firms D-Orbit and GAUSS, along with U.S. companies Momentus, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, and Spaceflight Inc. have developed orbital transfer vehicles.
AE Industrial Partners led Firefly Aerospace’s $75,000,000 Series B funding round in March.
Seven additional companies, including Atomos, Exotrail, Firefly Aerospace, Launcher, Space Machines, Exolaunch, and Impulse Space, are preparing to enter the market with initial flights scheduled in the next three years.
Spaceflight Inc.'s Sherpa LTE launched in June 2021 and used an electric propulsion system to execute maneuvers and change altitudes while operating under a customer's direction.
Kleos’ KSF3 mission was originally booked with Spaceflight Inc. for a mid-2022 launch but was moved to SpaceX’s Transporter-6 and will deploy from an ISILAUNCH integrated port after Spaceflight encountered a vibration issue with their original deployment method.
Spaceflight Inc. contracted ISILAUNCH to provide launch and integration services for Kleos' Observer Mission on behalf of Kleos Space.
Spaceflight delivered all five customer payloads on the Transporter 5 mission to their desired orbital destinations.
Xona Space Systems delivered its first in-space demonstrator to Spaceflight Inc. for final integration after successfully completing testing.
Virgin Orbit, Firefly Aerospace, Rocket Lab, and Astra contributed to US launch activity in 2021 by offering services in the small launch segment.
Firefly Aerospace completed the Integration Readiness Review (IRR) of the Blue Ghost M1 lander on 2022-04-26.
Spaceflight Inc.'s 50th mission will launch aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket no earlier than 2022-04-22.
Spaceflight signed a multi-launch agreement with IoT constellation customer Astrocast to provide ongoing launch services.
Firefly Aerospace’s second Alpha vehicle completed acceptance testing of both stages and is expected to be ready for launch in the next few months from 2022-03-22.
The transaction values Firefly Aerospace above its May 2021 Series A valuation of more than $1,000,000,000.