Firefly Aerospace made a strong entrance on Nasdaq Thursday, opening at $70 per share—well above its expected price range—marking a valuation close to $10 billion. Trading under ticker symbol FLY, the rocket and lunar lander manufacturer raised $868 million in its IPO after pricing shares at $45, topping the anticipated $41-$43 range.
The surge reflects growing investor enthusiasm for space technology, fueled by companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX securing major funding and government contracts. Firefly, the third space firm to go public this year following Voyager Technology and Karman Holdings, counts defense giants such as Lockheed Martin and L3Harris among its clients. Recently, it secured $50 million from Northrop Grumman and a $177 million NASA contract.
CEO Jason Kim emphasized the company’s focus on “execution” and meeting rising demand for dedicated one-ton launches from national security, commercial, and hypersonic missile testing sectors. Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander successfully landed on the moon earlier this year, and its backlog stood at $1.1 billion as of March. The company’s latest quarter saw revenue soar sixfold to $55.9 million, though it posted a net loss of $60.1 million.
After a long tech IPO drought due to inflation and rising interest rates, 2025 has seen renewed momentum with notable debuts from Figma, Circle, and CoreWeave—signaling a broader tech market revival.
Firefly intends to use its net proceeds from this offering to repay outstanding borrowings under its credit agreement, pay any accrued and unpaid dividends on certain series of its preferred stock, and for general corporate purposes.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as lead bookrunning managers for the offering. Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Cantor are acting as joint bookrunners. Roth Capital Partners and Academy Securities are acting as co-managers.
Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company that enables government and commercial customers to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. As the partner of choice for responsive space missions, Firefly is the only commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with approximately 24-hour notice. Firefly is also the only company to achieve a fully successful landing on the Moon. Established in 2017, Firefly’s engineering, manufacturing, and test facilities are co-located in central Texas to enable rapid innovation. The company’s small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles are built with common flight-proven technologies to enable speed, reliability, and cost efficiencies for each mission from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond.
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