Firefly Aerospace has acquired AI-powered spacecraft navigation company Space-ng, strengthening its software capabilities for future lunar, orbital and defence missions.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Space-ng will be fully integrated into Firefly, with Space-ng co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Ethan Rublee assuming the newly created role of Chief Engineer of Software, where he will oversee Firefly’s spacecraft software portfolio.
Expanding Navigation Capabilities
Firefly Chief Executive Officer Jason Kim said the acquisition builds on an existing partnership between the two companies.
“There’s a lot of synergies here. Not only can Space-ng’s capabilities help us with landing on the Moon, they can help us with all the other missions that need that kind of real-time navigation and hazard avoidance.”
Space-ng previously supplied the vision navigation software used during Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar landing, enabling autonomous hazard detection and real-time terrain avoidance.
The company also develops high-resolution spacecraft cameras and AI-based onboard computing systems designed for autonomous navigation.
Supporting Future Missions
Firefly plans to incorporate Space-ng’s technologies across several upcoming programmes.
Future Blue Ghost lunar missions will use the software for autonomous precision landings, while the company’s Elytra orbital vehicle will rely on Space-ng’s navigation systems during NASA’s MoonFall mission, which aims to deploy robotic vehicles near the Moon’s south pole.
The technology is also expected to support Firefly’s participation in the Defense Innovation Unit’s Sinequone programme, where Elytra spacecraft will conduct low Earth orbit operations requiring autonomous object tracking and onboard data processing.
Kim said reliable autonomous landing capabilities are becoming increasingly important for future lunar missions.
“This is a very crucial, critical part of the Moon mission. You’ve got to successfully, repeatedly, reliably land, and that’s what Space-ng’s vision navigation system does for us.”
Vertical Integration Strategy
The acquisition follows Firefly’s purchase of AI defence software company SciTec in October 2025 and reflects the company’s broader strategy of expanding in-house capabilities.
Kim said bringing Space-ng into Firefly allows the company to integrate software more closely with its launch vehicles, spacecraft and lunar landers while also creating opportunities to offer navigation technologies to government and commercial customers.
“One of the things that we’re trying to enhance at the company is we’re vertically integrated. We build our own rocket engines. We build our own rockets, and our lunar landers, and our spacecraft. Then, we acquired another software company last October. In terms of additional navigation software, we really saw a one-plus-one-equals-four kind of moment.”
Kim added that Firefly continues to evaluate additional acquisition opportunities, describing the company’s mergers and acquisitions pipeline as active and focused on businesses that complement its long-term strategy.
