Firefly Aerospace to Acquire Spaceflight, Will Discontinue its Rideshare Business

Spaceflight’s Sherpa-FX. Photo: Spaceflight

Firefly Aerospace is acquiring smallsat rideshare company Spaceflight for an undisclosed amount, and will end Spaceflight’s rideshare business after its current contracts. The company announced the deal last week on June 8, highlighting Spaceflight’s proven orbital transfer vehicles and experience in mission management as reasons for the acquisition.

“We’re currently assessing the needs of our combined customers to meet their mission requirements with Firefly’s launch vehicles. Firefly will honor Spaceflight’s current contracts but will not be aggregating payloads on other launch vehicles moving forward,” Risa Schnautz, senior manager of Marketing & Communications for Firefly, said in a statement to Via Satellite.

Schnautz said there are no changes to existing Spaceflight contracts. In addition, the entire Spaceflight team will join Firefly, and the company plans to “begin assessing talent and roles and responsibilities in the coming months,” she said.

Spaceflight has been a leader in the rideshare market and has supported the deployment of more than 460 payloads into space. The deal includes Spaceflight’s manufacturing and payload processing facilities in Bellevue, Washington, including clean rooms, environmental testing capabilities, and large high bays for spacecraft production.

Firefly CEO Bill Weber said the acquisition is part of a business plan to pursue organic growth and strategic acquisitions.

“The combination of Spaceflight’s on-orbit experience with Firefly’s launch vehicles, Blue Ghost landers, and Space Utility Vehicles is an overnight game changer for our customers and investors,” Weber said. “With a high market demand for our on-orbit services and rapid response missions, this acquisition uniquely positions Firefly to respond immediately to our customers’ needs. We look forward to welcoming this team into our incredible Firefly family.”

Firefly has Alpha launches scheduled for this year with the U.S. Space Force to launch the Millennium Space Systems Victus Nox spacecraft and NASA, and the company is working toward two missions with NASA next year with its Blue Ghost lunar lander. Firefly is a portfolio company of private equity firm AE Industrial Partners (AEI), which is also an investor in Redwire Corp. and Sierra Space.

Spaceflight CEO Tiphaine Louradour, who joined the company from ILS International Launch Services (ILS) earlier this year, said Spaceflight is excited to join Firefly’s team in a post on LinkedIn. 

“Spaceflight’s Sherpa OTV program and mission management capabilities complement Firefly’s vertically integrated product line and end-to-end space transportation services. We look forward to seeing what we can accomplish as one team,” Louradour said. 

Spaceflight is owned by Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Yamasa Co. The company had its first rideshare mission in 2013, and debuted its Sherpa FX orbital transfer vehicle in 2021. Spaceflight recently announced deals with Isar Aerospace and Maritime Launch Services for future missions. 

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a response from Firefly Aerospace.