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COLORADO SPRINGS—The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is partnering with Firefly Aerospace to use the company’s Elytra spacecraft for a responsive on-orbit mission due to launch in 2027.
The mission will support the DIU’s Sinequone Project, which is exploring options for cost-effective and responsive access beyond geostationary orbit (GEO), the company announced April 7. As part of the mission, Elytra will perform multiple on-orbit tasks to include space-domain awareness operations in low-Earth orbit, in a “first step” to enable access and operations beyond GEO, per Firefly. The company completed initial trade studies for the DIU in 2024.
“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 CEO Jason Kim said in a statement.
The DIU mission will follow Elytra’s first responsive on-orbit mission set to launch in 2025, supporting a 2023 contract between space logistics startup Xtenti and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Xtenti will deploy commercial rideshare payloads in Sun-synchronous orbit from an Elytra spacecraft, using Xtenti’s Fantm-Ride dispenser. Elytra would perform an on-orbit maneuver then remain on standby in orbit to deploy U.S. government payloads on demand.
The spacecraft will host common components from Firefly’s launch vehicles and lunar landers to include the avionics, composite structures and propulsion systems, the company said. Elytra’s main engine Spectre was flight-proven on the Blue Ghost lunar lander, supporting the platform’s final descent to the Moon on March 2.
Firefly is expanding its Elytra production facilities with support from an $8.2 million grant from the Texas Space Commission to add extra clean-room space, test facilities and infrastructure.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to reflect that Firefly is supporting Xtenti’s contract with the National Reconnaissance Office.
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