{"id":17288,"date":"2023-06-09T01:34:59","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T17:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/firefly-aerospace-acquires-spaceflight-inc-to-boost-capabilities-for-on-orbit-services\/"},"modified":"2023-06-09T01:34:59","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T17:34:59","slug":"firefly-aerospace-acquires-spaceflight-inc-to-boost-capabilities-for-on-orbit-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/firefly-aerospace-acquires-spaceflight-inc-to-boost-capabilities-for-on-orbit-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Firefly Aerospace acquires Spaceflight Inc. to boost capabilities for on-orbit services"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/230608-spaceflight-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-777076\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/230608-spaceflight-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/230608-spaceflight-1260x709.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/230608-spaceflight-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/230608-spaceflight-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/230608-spaceflight-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">Spaceflight Inc.\u2019s engineers work on a Sherpa-LTE orbital transfer vehicle. (Spaceflight Inc. Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Texas-based Firefly Aerospace says it has acquired Bellevue, Wash.-based Spaceflight Inc. and will shift the operation\u2019s focus from satellite rideshare logistics to its line of orbital transfer vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>Firefly says the strategic acquisition will add to its portfolio of low-cost space transportation services, ranging from launch vehicles to its Blue Ghost lunar lander.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpaceflight\u2019s flight-proven orbital vehicles, facilities and mission management expertise will support Firefly\u2019s rapid growth, provide a robust roadmap for investors, and meet the high demand for our on-orbit and responsive space services,\u201d Firefly Aerospace CEO Bill Weber said today in a news release. \u201cThe acquisition further accelerates Firefly\u2019s timeline to support end-to-end missions with launch, lunar, and in-space services.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.<\/p>\n<p>Spaceflight Inc. was established in Seattle in 2009. Ownership passed to a 50-50 joint venture between two Japanese companies \u2014 Mitsui &amp; Co. and Yamasa Co. Ltd. \u2014 in 2020 as part of a complex deal that also involved a geospatial company called BlackSky and a share of a Tukwila, Wash.-based satellite manufacturing company called LeoStella.<\/p>\n<p>Spaceflight will now fall under the Firefly Aerospace brand, said Risa Schnautz, Firefly\u2019s senior manager for marketing and communications. The entire Spaceflight team will be joining Firefly, and Schnautz said the team\u2019s talents, roles and responsibilities will be assessed in the months ahead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirefly\u2019s plan is to utilize Spaceflight\u2019s Bellevue facilities to manufacture its orbital vehicles,\u201d Schnautz told GeekWire in an email. \u201cOur Blue Ghost lunar lander will continue to be manufactured at our facility in Cedar Park, Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spaceflight was ranked No. 66 on the GeekWire 200, our list of privately held startups based in the Pacific Northwest. <\/p>\n<p>Spaceflight\u2019s Sherpa orbital transfer vehicles are designed to be launched on rockets including SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9. Multiple satellites can be attached to a single Sherpa, and then deployed into a variety of orbits after the orbital tug separates from its launch vehicle.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Inside look: Spaceflight Sherpa-FX\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/deJosbj0Np4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In addition to building Sherpas, Spaceflight Inc. has handled pre-launch arrangements for satellites on rideshare missions. But Schnautz said that part of the business will be de-emphasized.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re currently assessing the needs of our combined customers to meet their mission requirements with Firefly\u2019s launch vehicles,\u201d Schnautz said. \u201cFirefly will honor Spaceflight\u2019s current contracts but will not be aggregating payloads on other launch vehicles moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Firefly is a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners, a private equity firm specializing in aerospace, defense and other industrial markets.<\/p>\n<p>Weber said the acquisition of Spaceflight Inc. \u201cis the result of Firefly\u2019s business plan to strengthen the company through organic growth in addition to accelerating its capabilities with strategic acquisitions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Firefly\u2019s Alpha launch vehicle is manifested through 2023 with the U.S. Space Force, NASA and other commercial customers. The company is also developing a new medium-lift launch vehicle in collaboration with Northrop Grumman. Firefly\u2019s Blue Ghost lunar lander is due to complete the first of two planned missions to the moon next year with NASA as the anchor customer, and Firefly\u2019s Space Utility Vehicle has a mission scheduled early next year to demonstrate the vehicle\u2019s on-orbit capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe combination of Spaceflight\u2019s on-orbit experience with Firefly\u2019s launch vehicles, Blue Ghost landers, and Space Utility Vehicles is an overnight game changer for our customers and investors,\u201d Weber said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spaceflight Inc.\u2019s engineers work on a Sherpa-LTE orbital transfer vehicle. (Spaceflight Inc. Photo) Texas-based Firefly Aerospace says it has acquired Bellevue, Wash.-based Spaceflight Inc. and will shift the operation\u2019s focus from satellite rideshare logistics to its line of orbital transfer vehicles. Firefly says the strategic acquisition will add to its portfolio of low-cost space transportation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[443,4560,2340],"class_list":["post-17288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-firefly-aerospace","tag-sherpa","tag-spaceflight"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17288"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17288\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}