Story by Karoline Leonard, Austin American-Statesman

Cedar Park-based Firefly Aerospace announced Monday that it has been awarded a contract with the U.S. Defense Department to perform a responsive on-orbit mission using its spacecraft.

The mission is part of the Defense Innovation Unit, or DIU, Sinequone Project, a Defense Department initiative aimed at prototyping the use of commercial launch and orbital transfer systems to provide cost-effective, responsive access beyond geosynchronous orbits. These orbits, commonly referred to as xGEO, extend beyond Earth-centered orbits that have an orbital period matching Earth’s rotation.

For the mission, Firefly’s Elytra spacecraft will serve as a space maneuver vehicle, performing a series of tasks and hosting a suite of government payloads. The mission is set to launch as early as 2027.

“Firefly has proven our ability to rapidly and reliably launch, land and operate in space as we continue to execute bold missions from (low Earth orbit) to lunar orbit and beyond,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “This national security mission will further demonstrate our ability to perform responsive on-orbit tasks when and where our customers need them with our highly maneuverable Elytra orbital vehicle.”

Firefly’s multimission orbital vehicle Elytra’s main engine, known as Spectre, was recently proven when Firefly became the first commercial company to complete a fully successful moon landing in early March.

Firefly successfully landed its Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander on the moon’s surface on March 2, and it then operated 10 NASA-backed scientific and technological instruments over the period of one lunar day, equivalent to about 14 days on Earth.

According to Kim, Elytra will be equipped with the same systems used in the Blue Ghost landing — including the reaction control system thrusters that successfully performed Blue Ghost’s final descent to the moon — for the Sinequone mission.

Along with its successful moon landing last month, Firefly was recently awarded an $8.2 million grant from the Texas Space Commission for spacecraft clean room space, test facilities and infrastructure support. According to Firefly, the Texas Space Commission gift is aiding Firefly’s ability to mass produce Elytra in higher quantities at a lower cost.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Cedar Park-based Firefly Aerospace awarded Department of Defense contract