Firefly Aerospace hits record $117.7M Q2 revenue, beating estimates by 34%, NASA awards mount

Firefly Aerospace reported record second-quarter 2026 results while maintaining its full-year outlook:

• Revenue: $117.7 million
• Sequential growth: 45.5%
• 2026 revenue guidance: $420 million to $450 million

The results put execution on newly awarded government work, spacecraft production and launch capacity at the center of the company's growth plan.

NASA and lunar contracts

• $144 million: NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services contract for a rapid Blue Ghost lander mission, Firefly's sixth contracted lunar mission.
• $75 million: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory subcontract to use an Elytra spacecraft to deliver four drones to the Moon's south pole for the MoonFall mission, targeted to launch no earlier than 2028.
• $13 million: Subcontract supporting NASA JPL's SkyFall mission, Firefly's first Mars mission.

Firefly expanded its autonomous spacecraft capabilities by acquiring Space-ng, which develops AI-powered vision navigation and autonomous guidance systems. The acquired software and camera hardware are intended for Firefly's Blue Ghost landers and Elytra orbital vehicles.

The company also announced a collaboration with NVIDIA that will combine a Jetson module with Firefly's AI software on Elytra to process imagery in lunar orbit for the Ocula Moon service.

Defense awards

Defense work added several contracts and contract vehicles to the backlog:

• $5.5 million: U.S. Air Force option for SciTec to deliver an operational data fusion system for the Cloud-Based Command and Control program.
• $94 million: Space Force contract for ground-based radar digitization.
• $981 million: Total value of the NITE-STAR contract vehicle, which allows Firefly to compete for space test and training task orders through 2032.
• Additional award: A second hypersonic Alpha task order from a confidential customer.

The Air Force Research Laboratory also awarded SciTec a contract to implement deep learning and advanced algorithms on small Size, Weight and Power processors for enhanced target detection, tracking and custody.

Capital and capacity

Firefly completed an underwritten public offering that generated $181.6 million in net proceeds to support core business expansion and execution of recently awarded contracts.

The company also:

• More than quadrupled its spacecraft cleanroom space.
• Added manufacturing workstations for Alpha and Eclipse.
• Established the Gloworks innovation lab.

Operational milestones

Firefly completed design reviews for two Blue Ghost missions, prepared to launch Alpha from Sweden's Esrange Space Center and reached an agreement with Seagate Space to develop an offshore launch platform.

Other milestones included:

• Up to 25 flights: Lockheed Martin extended its multi-launch agreement for Alpha flights through 2031 using the Block II configuration.
• More than 150 tests: Firefly surpassed 150 hot-fire tests of Eclipse's Miranda engine.
• 226 seconds: Duration of a Miranda mission-duty-cycle test.

The volume of contracted work supports the company's growth outlook while placing pressure on management to expand production and execute across lunar, launch and defense programs.