Firefly Aerospace made its Nasdaq debut on Thursday under the ticker FLY, closing at $60.35 per share, giving the company a market capitalization of roughly $8.5 billion. Shares opened at $70, compared to the IPO price of $45 — above the initial range of $41–43 — raising a total of $868 million.
Firefly is the third space company to go public in 2025, following Voyager Technologies and Karman Holdings. Investor appetite for private space ventures is growing, fueled by strong funding flows and government contracts, similar to SpaceX.
The company develops the Alpha rocket and Blue Ghost lunar lander. One of its flagship achievements was the successful landing of Blue Ghost on the Moon in early 2025, a mission funded by NASA. In July, Firefly secured a $177 million NASA contract. Its client base includes major defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and L3Harris, while Northrop Grumman recently invested $50 million in the company.
According to CEO Jason Kim, demand for small launch vehicles is accelerating, driven by national security needs, commercial customers, and hypersonic weapons testing programs.
In Q1 2025, Firefly’s revenue increased sixfold to $55.9 million from $8.3 million a year earlier, though net loss widened to $60.1 million from $52.8 million. As of the end of March, the company reported a $1.1 billion order backlog in its IPO filing.
Founded in 2014 with the involvement of Ukrainian entrepreneur Maksym Polyakov, Firefly has maintained close ties with Ukraine, including collaboration with Ukrainian engineers and the use of Ukrainian space technologies in its early development stages.
The largest shareholder remains private equity firm AE Industrial Partners, holding over 41% of the stock. Five out of nine board members represent AE.
