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Aerospace firm with Burnet County ties gets fourth NASA contract

A rendering of Firefly Aerospace’s lunar lander, Blue Ghost, on the surface of the moon. The Central Texas space firm just won a 2028 contract with NASA to facilitate major moon exploration missions for the next few years. Firefly Aerospace image

Firefly Aerospace was recently awarded a $179 million contract from NASA to facilitate a moon exploration mission in 2028. The space company is based in Cedar Park but has a large manufacturing and testing site, Rocket Ranch, in Briggs in northeast Burnet County.

This is the fourth major contract that Firefly has been awarded for NASA’s Artemis campaign, which aims to develop consistent commercial travel and deliveries to the moon. Firefly is close to conducting its first lunar operation for NASA, Blue Ghost Mission 1, which should launch in January 2025.

“This incredible team gained a hard-earned reputation for smooth payload integrations, well-rehearsed operations, and robust testing and transparency throughout Blue Ghost Mission 1 preparations,” Firefly CEO Jason Kim said in a Dec. 18 media release. “As Firefly works towards becoming the go-to commercial company to provide autonomous systems on the Moon and beyond, our robust line of vehicles stand ready to deliver a historic mission to the Gruithuisen Domes.”

Under the latest contract, Firefly will partner with other space firms to send a lunar lander, scientific instruments, a moon-orbiting vehicle, and a lunar rover to the near side of the moon in 2028 to study the Gruithuisen Domes. The large geological structures have never been explored and present numerous mysteries about the moon’s volcanic past.

“Firefly will deliver six instruments to understand the landing site and surrounding vicinity,” said Chris Culbert, manager of the Commercial Payload Services initiative at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, in a NASA media release. “These instruments will study geologic processes and lunar regolith, test solar cells, and characterize the neutron radiation environment, supplying invaluable information as NASA works to establish a long-term presence on the Moon.”

dakota@thepicayune.com

1 thought on “Aerospace firm with Burnet County ties gets fourth NASA contract

  1. How can a rocket company that hasn’t had but a few successful launches keep getting contracts?

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