The announcement on Friday, February 22 said that Firefly Aerospace had reached an agreement with Space Florida, the state’s space development agency, to help fund development of a launch site at Space Launch Complex (SLC) 20 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and a launch vehicle factory just outside the gates of the Kennedy Space Center at Exploration Park.
The company has also received a “statement of capability” from the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Space Wing regarding the use of SLC-20. Under the agreement, Space Florida will match Firefly’s infrastructure investments up to $18.9 million, according to Space.com., while Firefly says it plans to invest $52 million in the launch site and factory, creating over 200 jobs.
“From this site, Firefly is going to execute its business plan, which is to dominate medium to small spaceflight market,” said Tom Markusic, chief executive of Firefly, during remarks at a ceremony at SLC-20 marking the project.
“Our mass production manufacturing facility in Exploration Park will enable Firefly to produce 24 Alpha vehicles a year, enabling a launch cadence that will support a rapidly expanding global small satellite revolution and the commercialization of cislunar space,” he added.
About Firefly Aerospace today
The company is developing a family of launch vehicles using common technologies, manufacturing infrastructure, and launch capabilities for providing low-Earth-orbit (LEO) launches for up to 4 metric ton (4.4 US tons) payloads. Firefly is also offering low-cost services extending to moon missions and beyond.
Firefly in the News: SpaceNews coverage of our SLC-20 launch site and our Exploration Park mass production facility which will give Firefly the ability to produce up to 24 Alpha vehicles a year. Read about it here: 8vY0TCFegp
— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) February 25, 2019
Headquartered in Cedar Park Texas, Firefly has an additional presence in Washington, D.C., Dnipro, Ukraine and Tokyo, Japan. Firefly is financed by Noosphere Ventures of Menlo Park, CA.
Firefly Aerospace is a reincarnation of the now-defunct Firefly Space Systems – formed in 2014. The Firefly Alpha design was revealed in July 2014 and based on anticipated small-satellite business, Firefly had signed an agreement with Space Florida to launch from the Florida “Space Coast.”
By October 2016, Firefly Space Systems had furloughed their entire staff after losing European backers in the aftermath of Brexit. In March 2017, it was announced that “virtually all” of the assets of Firefly would be sold at auction, organized by EOS Launcher, Inc., who had previously bought $1.0 million of Firefly debt.
Firefly was honored to have Governor DeSantis welcome our mass production facility to the Florida Space Coast. Col. Ste Marie from the 45th Space Wing spoke about Firefly’s launch plans for SLC-20. See the entire ceremony here: vcy9XpKisW
— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) February 23, 2019
Markusic, one of the original founders of Firefly Space Systems, was once a research scientist at NASA and has also worked for space companies including Blue Origin.
Firefly Aerospace has joined an exclusive club of rivals in the small-launch market that include such well-known names as Virgin Orbit, based in Long Beach, Calif., Rocket Lab, based in Huntington Beach, Calif., and Vector Launch, based in Burlingame, Calif.
However, it looks like Firefly is ready for a bit of competition. “The space industry is expected to be the fastest growing segment of the worldwide economy in the coming decades, with analysts predicting a global market of more than $1 trillion a year by 2040,” Markusic said. “Firefly Aerospace is uniquely positioned to be successful in this new economy.”
