Firefly

SSTL plans to start launching with Firefly beginning with the CARBONITE-4 mission in early 2020.

Firefly signed a firm launch contract with Surrey Satellite Technology covering up to six Alpha launches from 2020 to 2022 beginning with SSTL’s Carbonite-4 technology demonstration satellite.

Final acceptance of Firefly Alpha’s first and second stages will take place over the next several months at Firefly’s test facilities in Briggs, Texas, with hardware deployments to Vandenberg planned for 2020-06-05.

Firefly was one of an estimated eight to ten bidders for the CLPS task order that NASA awarded to Masten Space Systems on 2020-04-08.

Max Polyakov and Noosphere Venture Partners provided $200,000,000 of funding for Firefly’s development phase.

Firefly announced a July 2019 partnership with Israel Aerospace Industries to license the Genesis lander that IAI developed for SpaceIL’s Beresheet mission.

Firefly is developing, qualifying, and manufacturing the Blue Ghost lander at spacecraft integration facilities in Cedar Park, Texas, about 30 minutes north of Austin.

Firefly completed the Blue Ghost critical design review in preparation for a 2023 mission to deliver ten payloads to the lunar surface for NASA.

Firefly launched its first Alpha rocket on 2021-09-02 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

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.

AE Industrial Partners led a $75,000,000 Series B funding round for Firefly in March 2022.

Firefly worked with the FAA and another company on an improved debris model for composite rockets that was nearing final approval in mid-2022.

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.

Peter Schumacher stated in July 2023 that Firefly would perform one more Alpha launch in 2023 if the second launch was successful, carrying NASA-sponsored cubesats through a Venture Class Launch Services contract won in December 2020.

Firefly is scheduled for six Alpha launches to carry customer payloads in 2023 and 12 Alpha launches in 2024.

The TacRS-3 contract requires Firefly to be given 24 hours’ notice to launch a Millennium Space small satellite to low Earth orbit.

Firefly is scheduled to conduct six Alpha launches to carry customer payloads in 2023 and 12 Alpha launches in 2024.

Firefly currently launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and plans to also launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

The U.S. Space Force awarded Firefly a $17,600,000 contract for the 2023 Tactically Responsive Space TacRS-3 mission.

Firefly and Millennium completed multiple rehearsals for VICTUS NOX that included packing and delivering a satellite mockup to Firefly’s integration facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base to practice launch operations within a 24-hour timeframe.