Firefly Aerospace, Inc., a provider of economical and dependable launch vehicles, spacecraft and in-space services, announced on 21 January 2020 the execution of a Launch Services Agreement with Innovative Space Logistics BV (ISILAUNCH), a launch services subsidiary of Netherlands based ISIS – Innovative Solutions in Space B.V. (ISISPACE). Under the agreement, ISILAUNCH will offer to its customers multiple dedicated and rideshare launch opportunities on the Firefly’s Alpha launch vehicle, on missions beginning in 2020.
“We are very pleased to have ISILAUNCH as a customer for our Alpha launch vehicle,” said Firefly CEO Dr. Tom Markusic. “With our anticipated flight rate and the growth of the demand for launch services, Firefly will leverage the experience and market presence of ISILAUNCH to provide their customers with economical, convenient and reliable flight opportunities.”
“We are very keen to work with Firefly and their Alpha launch vehicle,” said ISILAUNCH Director Abe Bonnema. “Based on our extensive experience with cluster launches, having launched hundreds of small satellites that way over the past ten years, we believe the Alpha launch vehicle has a very interesting capacity to cost ratio, enabling the launch configuration flexibility we need to serve our broad customer base, while Alpha is also interesting for our ambitions to bring swarms of small satellites to lunar orbit. Moreover, we are pleased to conclude that our business philosophy and market approach align very well with those of Firefly.”
Alona Kolisnyk, Firefly Director of International Business Development, added that, “At Firefly, our team is preparing to quickly ramp flight cadence following the maiden launch of our Alpha vehicle. This will allow us to deliver customer payloads to their preferred orbits in a responsive and affordable way. The rideshare missions Firefly will execute with ISILAUNCH will further enable the global small satellite industry and provide flight heritage to disruptive cislunar technologies being developed by commercial space startups.”
