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 was one of nine companies that received Commercial Lunar Payload Services awards in November 2018.
The National Reconnaissance Office awarded commercial imagery study contracts to BlackSky Global, Maxar Technologies, and Planet.
Firefly Aerospace plans to begin manufacturing rockets in Texas while constructing a factory in Florida to produce as many as 24 Alpha rockets per year.
Firefly Aerospace planned a first launch of its Alpha launch vehicle in December 2019 under an all-green-light schedule but expected the schedule would probably slip into 2020.
Firefly Aerospace expected to take possession of a launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, formerly used by the Delta II, in June or July 2019.
Relativity signed a Launch Services Agreement with Spaceflight to launch Spaceflight’s dedicated rideshares of small satellites, microsats, and cubesats to Low Earth Orbit on Relativity’s Terran 1 rocket.
Relativity signed an agreement with Spaceflight on 2019-05-06 for a series of smallsat rideshare launches.
On 2019-03-19 in Cedar Park, Texas, Firefly Aerospace executed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus Defence and Space to develop new space launch solutions for Airbus customers.
Firefly Aerospace and Airbus will work to develop integrated solutions intended to enable rapid deployment and replenishment of Airbus customer constellations.
The partnership between Airbus Defence and Space and Firefly Aerospace will provide Airbus customers launch options with direct access to specific orbits, operational flexibility, and short-notice launch capability.
Firefly Aerospace and Airbus will collaborate to develop integrated solutions that aim to accelerate the global small satellite market and support commercialization of cis-lunar space.
Firefly Aerospace will formulate an integrated market offering to provide Airbus customers rapid deployment of Airbus-manufactured satellites.
Under the Space Florida agreement, the state will match Firefly Aerospace’s infrastructure investments up to $18,900,000.
Initial production of Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha vehicle will take place at the company’s Texas facility.
Firefly Aerospace reached agreements with Space Florida and U.S. federal agencies on 2019-02-22 to build a new factory for producing and launching its rockets from Florida’s Space Coast.
Firefly Aerospace stated the new factory will be able to produce 24 Alpha vehicles per year.
Firefly Aerospace planned a separate large-scale mass production facility for Alpha to support higher production rates.
Firefly Aerospace reached an agreement with Space Florida to help fund development of a launch site at Space Launch Complex 20 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and a launch vehicle factory just outside the gates of the Kennedy Space Center.
The planned Firefly Aerospace factory will be a 180,000-square-foot facility located in Exploration Park on the grounds of the Kennedy Space Center but outside the center’s security perimeter.
Firefly Aerospace plans to invest $52,000,000 in the factory and launch site development and to create more than 200 jobs.