CNBC reports that investment in the space sector “bounced back last year, rebounding closer to the record high of 2021, according to a report Tuesday by New York-based Space Capital.” The firm’s fourth-quarter report “found that space infrastructure companies brought in $2.6 billion of private investment during the period. That brought the sector to $12.5 billion in total investment for 2023, well above last year’s $9.3 billion raised but still below the $15.3 billion brought in during 2021.” Top raises during the “fourth quarter included funds announced by space companies Firefly Aerospace, Ursa Major, D-Orbit, Stoke Space and True Anomaly.” Anderson told the outlet “we expect to see even more” merger and acquisition activity in 2024.
Full Story (CNBC)
Tag: Firefly Aerospace
Firefly Ready to Test Launch USSF On-Demand Service
Aviation Week reports that sometime in the next six months, Boeing’s Millennium Space Systems and startup Firefly Aerospace “will receive a call from the U.S. Space Force to integrate and launch a satellite in 24 hr.” Until then, the companies “will stand at the ready for the military’s Victus Nox mission.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
NRO Contracts Firefly, Xtenti for Responsive Space Mission
Aviation Week reports Firefly Aerospace is “parlaying technology” developed for its “Alpha launch vehicle and Blue Ghost lunar lander with expertise acquired through its purchase of Spaceflight into a new business line focused on in-space services, with the National Reconnaissance Office.” Space News reports that on Tuesday, NRO “announced a contract with Firefly Aerospace and Xtenti for a responsive space mission.” The NRO mission is “scheduled to launch on a Firefly Alpha launch vehicle in 2024,” and will “demonstrate multiple on-orbit deployments with Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicle and Xtenti’s Fantm-Ride small satellite dispenser.” Elytra will “deploy commercial rideshare payloads with Fantm-Ride, before performing an on-orbit maneuver.” After the maneuver, Elytra “will remain in orbit on standby, prepared to deploy U.S. government payloads on-demand.”
Full Story (Aviation Week); More Info (Space News)
Firefly Aerospace Launches its First Rocket into Orbit
Bloomberg reported Firefly Aerospace Inc. has “launched its first rocket into orbit, advancing the private space startup’s bid to become a reliable partner for NASA.” Firefly’s Alpha rocket “took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California early Saturday and successfully put three small payloads into Earth orbit, including one for the US space agency. A previous launch attempt failed in September 2021 when the debut Alpha rocket veered off course and had to be exploded shortly after takeoff.” Saturday’s launch “follows years of engineering work, litigation and financial struggles for Cedar Park, Texas-based Firefly, one of several companies NASA selected to deliver science payloads to the moon as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.”
Full Story (Bloomberg)