Firefly Aerospace Inc. (FLY)

Firefly is a U.S.-based space and defense technology company that designs, develops, and deploys launch vehicles and spacecraft to serve national security, government, and commercial customers, offering end-to-end mission solutions including launch, transit, and on-orbit operations. Its Launch segment centers on Alpha, the first and only U.S.-based orbital rocket in the 1,000-kilogram payload class, which has completed seven launches (including responsive missions like VICTUS NOX, VICTUS SOL, and VICTUS HAZE for the U.S. Space Force) and has more than 30 planned launches under contract, along with applications in hypersonic testing (e.g., the DoW's MACH-TB program); the company is also developing Eclipse, a reusable, larger-capacity vehicle in partnership with Northrop Grumman capable of delivering 16,000-kilogram payloads to LEO and reaching MEO, GEO, HEO, and TLI. Its Spacecraft Solutions segment includes the Blue Ghost lunar lander—the only commercial vehicle to achieve a fully successful Moon landing (Blue Ghost Mission 1, completed for NASA under a $102.1 million contract)—and the Elytra spacecraft platform, which supports satellite delivery, on-orbit transfers, hosted payloads, communications relays, and space domain awareness missions for customers including the NRO, SDA, and DoW's Defense Innovation Unit.

The October 2025 acquisition of SciTec added AI-enabled defense software and big data processing capabilities for missile warning and defense, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, space domain awareness, and autonomous command and control, supporting national security programs such as Golden Dome. Firefly's vertically integrated operations are based at facilities north of Austin, Texas (including the Rocket Ranch manufacturing site and the Hive spacecraft/software facility), supplemented by launch sites at Vandenberg Space Force Base, with additional sites under development at Wallops Island, Virginia, Esrange Space Center in Sweden, and planned expansion at Cape Canaveral. The company targets a large and growing addressable market driven by rising satellite launch demand, expanding national security space budgets, and increasing government and commercial reliance on space infrastructure, positioning itself as one of the few U.S. commercial providers offering integrated launch, spacecraft, and defense software solutions across LEO, MEO, GEO, and cislunar orbits.