Karmactive Team
Firefly Aerospace set terms Monday for its initial public offering, aiming for a $5.5 billion valuation as the Texas-based rocket maker looks to capitalize on growing investor interest in the commercial space sector.
The Cedar Park, Texas company plans to offer 16.2 million shares priced between $35 and $39 each, potentially raising up to $631.8 million, according to its SEC filing. Firefly intends to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “FLY.”
Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, and Wells Fargo Securities are serving as lead bookrunners, with Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and Cantor as joint bookrunners. The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase an additional 2.43 million shares.
The space company posted revenue of $60.8 million in 2024, a 10% increase from $55.2 million in 2023. However, like many growth-stage space firms, Firefly operates at a loss, reporting a net loss of $231.1 million for 2024 and $60.1 million for Q1 2025.
“We’re seeing a window of opportunity for space IPOs amid renewed investor interest,” said Josef Schuster, CEO of IPOX, quoted in an earlier Reuters report on the filing.
Firefly plans to use proceeds to repay borrowings under its credit agreement and unpaid preferred dividends. As of March 31, 2025, the company had $176.9 million in cash and equivalents against $173.6 million in total debt, including a $136.1 million term loan at 13.87% interest.
The company’s order backlog has grown substantially to $1.1 billion, nearly double the $560 million reported a year ago. This backlog consists primarily of Alpha rocket launches and lunar lander contracts.
Firefly has secured several NASA contracts, including its “Blue Ghost“ lunar lander missions. The first mission was awarded for $93.3 million, with follow-on orders worth $112 million and $179 million. In March 2025, NASA also awarded Firefly a contract to launch the INCUS mission from Wallops Flight Facility.
The company has attracted strategic investment from defense giant Northrop Grumman, which invested $50 million in a joint venture called Eclipse, with its first launch expected in 2026.
CEO Jason Kim, who joined Firefly in September 2024 after previous roles at Millennium Space Systems, Raytheon Intelligence & Space, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, and the U.S. Air Force, has overseen the company’s recent growth phase. In February 2025, the company named Michael Sheetz as Director of Investor Relations in preparation for its public offering.
Firefly operates in a competitive space launch market that includes public companies like Rocket Lab (market cap between $18 billion and $22 billion as of mid-July 2025) and private firms like SpaceX. The smallsat launch market is projected to grow at approximately 11% annually through 2030, according to industry analysts.
For Q1 2025, Firefly reported revenue of $55.9 million and a gross profit of $2.2 million, indicating potential improvement in its financial trajectory as it approaches its market debut.
The IPO comes amid increasing government outsourcing of space missions through programs like NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) and Department of Defense responsive launch initiatives, with defense space budgets growing approximately 5% year-over-year.
Firefly Aerospace began its roadshow today for its initial public offering, confirming the pricing details in line with what was expected. The Cedar Park, Texas-based space company is proceeding with its plans to go public amid what Reuters describes as “signs of steady recovery in 2025” for the IPO market.
Samuel Kerr, head of equity capital markets at Mergermarket, noted in a Reuters report that Firefly “still promises growth, represents a diversified portfolio exposure and plays to a defense investment theme that has been hot across both the IPO market and wider equities.”
The company has strengthened its position in the space sector through strategic partnerships not just with Northrop Grumman, but also with Lockheed Martin and L3Harris, according to recent reports.
Firefly’s lunar lander success earlier this year marks a significant achievement that sets it apart in the commercial space sector. The company performed the first fully successful commercial Moon landing with its Blue Ghost lander on March 2, 2025, according to its official press release.
The IPO comes at a time when several billionaires and private firms are investing heavily in the U.S. space sector, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, creating what many analysts describe as a new space race with implications for technological dominance, national security, and economic opportunity.
If successful, this IPO would represent one of the larger space industry public offerings in recent years, following Voyager Technologies, which raised $383 million in June.
