Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, a start-up rocket manufacturer and launch provider, has acquired Spaceflight Inc in a move to boost its on-orbit services, the company announced on 8 June.
Spaceflight Inc is a leading commercial smallsat launch arranger, which also operates its own Sherpa space tugs/delivery spacecraft. Bill Weber, CEO of Firefly Aerospace, said that “strategic acquisitions” would accelerate the company’s capabilities alongside its organic growth. Weber was hired in September, ahead of the company’s second orbital lift-off.
Firefly Aerospace is building a family of small to medium rockets, also called Firefly, in a bid to capture a larger share of the growing smallsat market. As an “end-to-end” space transportation company, Firefly covers launch, lunar and in-space services, utilising its Space Utility Vehicles and Blue Ghost lunar landers. It hopes to benefit from Spaceflight’s mission management experience, having deployed more than 460 payloads into orbit, as well as the company’s Bellevue, Washington, payload processing facility.
Although the financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, Firefly has confirmed that Spaceflight’s spacecraft delivery services will only be used with Firefly’s launch vehicles following the acquisition.
Spaceflight Inc.’s Sherpa-LTE, an electric propulsion variant of its Sherpa tug series, had its maiden flight in 2021. Courtesy: Spaceflight Inc.
For the Texan start-up, the acquisition demonstrates a marked improvement in the company’s fortunes since 2016 when it faced financial struggles. It comes as the firm prepares to blast off its Alpha rocket with just 24 hours’ notice, as part of the Space Force’s tactically responsive launch demonstration. Its Blue Ghost lander is planned to lift off in 2024 for a lunar lander mission, as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services programme. In 2026 Firefly hopes to land a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon.
Comment by David Todd: Spaceflight made inroads into the commercial launch market by using SpaceX to launch its Sherpa delivery craft. However, that deal fell apart and Spaceflight Inc was forced to look elsewhere. This new deal means that Spaceflight will have stable access to orbit via Firefly’s rockets.
