Investors Consider Selling Firefly Aerospace at $1.5 Billion

Investors in Firefly Aerospace Inc., an American privately held aerospace company that manufactures vehicles for commercial launches to orbit, are considering a sale that might increase the firm’s value to around $1.5 billion, according to Bloomberg’s anonymous sources.

According to these sources, these backers, including the US private investment company AE Industrial Partners, are exploring strategic alternatives for Firefly with the help of a financial advisor, who preferred to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. 

The sources added that while the company is likely to draw interest from both private equity investors and counterparts in the space industry, a sale may not proceed.

Spokespeople for both AE and Firefly have chosen not to provide any comments on the matter.

Strategic Investments and Advancing Operations in Space Exploration

In 2017 Ukrainian businessman Max Polyakov rescued Firefly from bankruptcy and invested his own money. In 2022, he left the company on demand of the US government. In 2022, AE Industrial Partners invested $75 million in Firefly, which is headquartered in Cedar Park, Texas, as part of its Series B fundraising efforts. This was followed by an additional investment in the Series C financing round, which took place in November 2023, establishing the company’s valuation at $1.5 billion. 

Firefly has been fairly active in pursuing acquisitions, evidenced by its 2023 purchase of Spaceflight Inc., a company specializing in satellite development and coordinating launch services, as detailed on Firefly’s official website.

The company’s Alpha rocket, designed for a single use, has acquired contracts to deploy satellites for the Department of Defense, NASA, and various commercial satellite providers. 

Additionally, Firefly plans to send its Blue Ghost spacecraft to the Moon later in the year, equipped with scientific tools for an upcoming NASA mission.