FILE PHOTO: Firefly Aerospace's first Alpha rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, U.S. September 2, 2021. REUTERS/Gene Blevins/File Photo
(Reuters) -Firefly Aerospace has raised $175 million in a late-stage funding round led by RPM Ventures, valuing the space startup at more than $2 billion, it said on Tuesday.
Venture capital firms have been investing strongly in rocket makers and satellite manufacturers, marking a shift in the investment trend for such capital intensive businesses, Seraphim Space said in a report last month.
Texas-based Firefly makes small and medium launch vehicles for commercial launches to the earth's orbit. It also offers on-orbit services through its Elytra line of orbital vehicles, providing hosting, rideshare, delivery and servicing missions.
The startup is preparing for its first mission to the moon, dubbed Blue Ghost, as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Service initiative later this year.
The Series D funding round at Firefly included existing investors as well as new entities, including GiantLeap Capital and Human Element.
Firefly intends to utilize the fresh capital to enhance the market reach of its Elytra spacecraft, transition to full-scale production of its Alpha rocket, and expedite the hardware qualification for newly developing vehicles.
The company said it was simultaneously preparing for multiple launches of the Alpha rocket under contracts with Lockheed Martin, L3Harris and NASA, among others, while collaborating with Northrop Grumman to develop a medium launch vehicle.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
