Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Firefly Aerospace
on Wednesday announced an agreement for the purchase of up to 25 launches of different spacecraft aboard the fledgling space transportation company’s Alpha rocket over the next five years.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The deal calls for Firefly to conduct 15 launches with options for 10 more through the end of 2029.
The first launch is slated for later this year and Firefly said it will be done as a responsive space operation that involves transporting the payload fairing to the launch pad, integrating it with the Alpha rocket, and completing final preparations within hours of scheduled liftoff. The mission aboard Alpha flight 6 will lift off from Firefly’s SLC-2 launch site at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Lockheed Martin will provide various spacecraft for the launches, including technology demonstrators, new payload technologies. The company said the agreement gives it the ability to launch more frequently and provide access to a “lower-cost launch vehicle,” thereby reducing risk related to its self-funded technology development and missions.
“We’ll experiment with new ways of completing missions including earth observation, global ubiquitous communications, climate monitoring, and beyond,” Robert Lightfoot, president of Lockheed Martin’s Space segment, posted on LinkedIn. “Lockheed Martin Space is making investments to mature and demonstrate emerging technology. We’re building experience with novel capabilities like our Electronically Steerable Antenna and Pony Express 2, and we’re paving the way for revolutionary mission capabilities when our customers need them most.”
Last December, an Alpha rocket failed to deliver a Lockheed Martin technology demonstration to the proper orbit. In September 2023, an Alpha rocket successfully launched and deployed the VICTUS NOX satellite as part of a Space Force tactically responsive space capability demonstration mission.
Firefly said it has scaled up production of Alpha and has streamlined launch operations to fly “more frequently and responsibly.” It also said launches for Lockheed Martin will occur on the West and East Coast.
Alpha can carry payloads weighing up to 2,270-pounds into space.
Firefly is a portfolio company of the investment firm AE Industrial Partners.