Firefly Aerospace, a Cedar Park-based rocket company, has had a busy year.
The company, which was once on the verge of shutting down, has reignited its rocket program, testing firing one of them during SXSW earlier this year. Then, in June, it landed a deal with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. for six launches between 2020 and 2022.
On Wednesday, Firefly announced it's teaming up with Denver-based York Space Systems to launch York's S-CLASS satellites -- up to four per launch. York's small satellites are versatile enough to be configured for space startups, government clients and others.
"Our commercial and government customers emphasize the need for integrated solutions that facilitate rapid deployment of spacecraft," York CEO Dirk Wallinger said in a news release. "This partnership with Firefly will give our customers another fantastic launch service option for rapid access to space.”
It's the latest advance for Firefly, which is backed by Menlo Park-based Noosphere Ventures. Back in September, Space Florida told the Orlando Sentinel that it is eying Firefly in hopes of having it -- along with California's Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit -- use the state's launch complex at Cape Canaveral.
Also in September, Firefly announced it had hired Shea Ferring as its VP of mission assurance. Ferring has pervious experience working at NASA's launch services unit, ECAPS, Vencore and Orbital ATK.
York, meanwhile, has had a series of high profile collaborations.
Earlier this year, it announced a partnership with The Asteroid Institute to research a constellation of small satellites to track asteroids. It also announced it's working with a Swiss satellite supplier to add its payload adapters, which make it easier to match rockets with the satellites they carry into orbit.
York, which was founded in 2015, is also working with Rocket Lab and the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
“The performance of the Firefly Alpha allows for deployment of up to four York S-CLASS satellites in a single launch," Firefly VP of Business Development Les Kovacs said in a news release. "Alpha’s industry leading small satellite launch vehicle performance will enable Firefly to provide York’s expanding customer base pre-configured launch solutions to greatly reduce historically long launch campaign timelines."
