Firefly Black LLC, a subsidiary of Firefly Aerospace of Ukrainian businessman Max Polyakov, has signed a contract with NASA to launch small satellites to orbit.
According to the NASA press service, the value of the contract is $9.8 million.
Microsats launch
The contracts were signed under NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), which involves the launch of small satellites, including CubeSats, miniature cubic satellites made up of multiples of 10 cm cubic units.
NASA notes that the launch of small satellites will be in demand for future science missions of the aerospace agency, and now these missions will demonstrate the ability to launch small payloads by private companies.
Three companies signed contracts under the program, but Firefly Black LLC got the biggest one:
- Astra Space Inc.: $3.9M
- Relativity Space Inc.: $3M
- Firefly Black LLC: $9.8M
About Firefly Aerospace
Firefly Aerospace is a U.S. company that provides convenient access to space for small payloads through the manufacture of reliable launch vehicles. The company is headquartered in Austin, TX, and has an R&D center in Dnipro, Ukraine.
In 2017, Firefly Aerospace was relaunched by serial entrepreneur Max Polyakov. According to various estimates, between $75 million and $100 million was invested in the company.
