Firefly Aerospace
End-to-end space transportation and lunar services for commercial and national security missions
Overview
Overview
Firefly Aerospace is a vertically integrated space transportation company developing launch vehicles, lunar landers and in-space services for commercial and government customers. Based in Cedar Park, Texas, Firefly operates the Alpha small-lift launch vehicle and the Blue Ghost lunar lander series, provides orbital transfer and on-orbit services with its Elytra vehicles, and is co-developing the medium-lift Eclipse rocket with Northrop Grumman.
Founded in 2014 by Tom Markusic, the company emerged from bankruptcy in 2017 and has since delivered payloads to orbit with Alpha and landed Blue Ghost Mission 1 on the Moon on 2 March 2025 — the first fully successful commercial lunar landing, followed by 14 days of surface operations. Firefly serves NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense and commercial satellite operators, with responsive launch (the 2023 VICTUS NOX mission, flown 27 hours after the call-up) as a signature capability.
Firefly went public on Nasdaq in August 2025 under the ticker FLY, pricing its IPO at $45 per share, raising about $868 million and reaching a valuation close to $10 billion on its debut. For fiscal 2025 it reported record revenue of $159.9 million, up 163% year over year, against a net loss of $298.3 million, and guided 2026 revenue to $420-450 million. In November 2025 it closed the $855 million acquisition of defense contractor SciTec, and in June 2026 NASA awarded it a $144 million CLPS contract for an accelerated Blue Ghost mission in 2028 — its sixth contracted lunar delivery. Near-term execution rests on the upgraded Alpha Block 2, whose debut has slipped to the fourth quarter of 2026, Blue Ghost Mission 2 to the lunar far side, and the first flight of Eclipse from Wallops Island.
Launch Record
Firefly Aerospace has flown 2 orbital missions tracked in the NovΔ mAInd launch database, at a 50% success rate, averaging 2.3/year. Our tracking covers 2025-04-29 to 2026-03-11; earlier flights are outside this dataset.
Computed from our own launch tracker, not supplied by the company. See the full launch tracker →
Products & Vehicles
Alpha
Alpha is Firefly's small-lift orbital launch vehicle for dedicated and rideshare missions to low Earth orbit and sun-synchronous orbit. The rocket stands 29 meters tall with a 1.8-meter diameter and uses four Reaver engines burning RP-1 and liquid oxygen on the first stage, plus a single Lightning engine on the second. Payload to LEO: 1,030 kg | Payload to SSO: 630 kg | Advertised price: ~$15M. Alpha's maiden flight in September 2021 was terminated during ascent; the second flight reached orbit on 1 October 2022 in a partially successful mission, and the first fully successful flight was the U.S. Space Force VICTUS NOX responsive-launch mission on 15 September 2023. The vehicle is manufactured at Firefly's facility in Briggs, Texas, and launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. An upgraded Alpha Block 2 is in qualification, with its debut targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026.
Blue Ghost
Blue Ghost is a lunar lander series developed under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, designed to deliver up to 150 kg of scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface. Blue Ghost Mission 1 landed in Mare Crisium on the Moon's near side on 2 March 2025, making Firefly the first commercial company to complete a fully successful lunar landing, and operated for 14 days on the surface before the mission concluded in March 2025. Blue Ghost Mission 2 targets the lunar far side in late 2026, deployed together with ESA's Lunar Pathfinder communications satellite by an Elytra Dark transfer vehicle. A sixth contracted lunar mission, awarded under CLPS in June 2026 for $144 million, is targeted for 2028.
Elytra
Elytra is Firefly's line of orbital transfer and on-orbit service vehicles, built on the spacecraft and rideshare capabilities added through the June 2023 acquisition of Spaceflight Inc. Elytra provides last-mile satellite delivery, hosted payloads and sustained on-orbit operations; the Elytra Dark variant serves as the transfer stage for Blue Ghost Mission 2 and hosts the Ocula lunar imaging service.
Eclipse
Eclipse is a medium-lift launch vehicle co-developed with Northrop Grumman, designed to lift roughly 16,300 kg to low Earth orbit and 3,200 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit, targeting space station resupply, national security and commercial payloads. Northrop Grumman invested $50 million in Firefly in May 2025 to advance the program; qualification testing is under way, with the first launch planned from Wallops Island, Virginia.
Track Record
Heritage
2014 - Firefly Aerospace founded by Tom Markusic in Texas.
2017 - Company emerged from bankruptcy with investment from Noosphere Ventures, later restructured under AE Industrial Partners.
September 2021 - Alpha's maiden flight from Vandenberg SFB was terminated during ascent after an anomaly.
October 2022 - Alpha reached orbit on its second flight, a partially successful mission that left its payloads in a lower-than-planned orbit.
June 2023 - Acquired Spaceflight Inc., adding orbital transfer vehicles and rideshare services.
September 2023 - First fully successful Alpha flight: the U.S. Space Force VICTUS NOX mission, launched 27 hours after notice, a record for responsive national security launch.
December 2023 - Alpha's fourth flight was partially successful; the second stage failed to circularize, leaving the payload in an elliptical orbit.
November 2024 - Raised $175 million in a Series D round to scale Alpha production and spacecraft development.
2 March 2025 - Blue Ghost Mission 1 landed in Mare Crisium, the first fully successful commercial lunar landing, and completed 14 days of surface operations.
April 2025 - Alpha's LM-400 demonstration flight for Lockheed Martin was lost after an in-flight anomaly.
May 2025 - Northrop Grumman invested $50 million as the medium-lift vehicle was named Eclipse.
August 2025 - IPO on Nasdaq under ticker FLY, priced at $45 per share, raising about $868 million at a valuation near $10 billion.
November 2025 - Closed the $855 million acquisition of defense contractor SciTec, announced in October 2025.
March 2026 - Reported record fiscal 2025 revenue of $159.9 million, up 163% year over year, with a $298.3 million net loss, and guided 2026 revenue to $420-450 million.
June 2026 - NASA awarded a $144 million CLPS contract for an accelerated Blue Ghost mission targeted at 2028, Firefly's sixth contracted lunar delivery.
Roadmap
Roadmap
Firefly guided fiscal 2026 revenue to $420-450 million, on the back of launch, lunar and defense work. The upgraded Alpha Block 2 is in qualification with its debut slipped to the fourth quarter of 2026, after the company had earlier targeted late summer.
Blue Ghost Mission 2 is set for the lunar far side in late 2026, carrying ESA's Lunar Pathfinder to lunar orbit on an Elytra Dark transfer vehicle. Further CLPS deliveries are contracted, including the accelerated $144 million mission awarded in June 2026 and targeted for 2028.
The medium-lift Eclipse vehicle, co-developed with Northrop Grumman, is in qualification testing ahead of a first launch from Wallops Island, Virginia. On the defense side, Firefly is integrating SciTec, acquired for $855 million in November 2025, to expand its national security portfolio.
Recent coverage on NovΔ mAInd
7 articles on Firefly Aerospace published by NovΔ mAInd.
Upcoming launches
Tracked in our own launch database. See the full launch tracker →