By Manya Saini
(Reuters) – Firefly Aerospace, a space technology startup backed by Northrop Grumman, aims to value its valuation of about $5.5 billion in its U.S. IPO, as investor interest in the high-growth sector shows signs of a sustained rebound.
The Texas-based Cedar Park spacecraft and launch vehicle manufacturer aims to sell 16.2 million shares, priced between $35 and $39, to raise up to $631.8 million, according to a document.
The company's IPO market showed signs of steady recovery after a slump after nearly three years as lower interest rates, improved market conditions and backlog of high-growth companies restored investors' interests.
Several notable lists, including the New Bank Bell and Stablecoin issuer Circle, have rekindled optimism in recent weeks, with more and more companies preparing to test the waters in the second half of the year.
“While it is not the hype of the current cryptocurrency and AI boom, Firefly still promises growth, which represents a diversified portfolio exposure and plays a certain defense investment theme in the defense investment theme, hot in the IPO market and in the broader stock market,” said Samuel Kerr, head of equity capital markets at Mergermarket.
Space Race
Several billionaires and private companies are refueling in the new space race in the United States, dumping funds into rocket, satellite and lunar missions, including Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.
As NASA relies more on business partnerships and rising spending on defense, the space industry is quickly becoming a high-risk area for technological advantages, national security and economic opportunities.
Kerr said Firefly Aerospace’s IPO coincides with two major investment themes, the commercialization of space exploration and the growing space in global defense.
Space startups continued to attract investors’ capital between April and June, the second quarter of a fundraising earlier this month, according to an industry report.
Firefly Aerospace made its first successful landing on the moon as its unblue blue ghost spacecraft in March. It expects Blue Ghost Lander to fly the moon mission every year.
The company received a valuation of more than $2 billion in the funding round in November 2024, when the funding raised $175 million.
Earlier this year, US defense contractor Northrop Grumman also invested $50 million in startups.
Firefly Aerospace has also established partnerships with industry giants Lockheed Martin and L3Harris.
After the IPO is closed, it will trade under the Nasdaq under the stock symbol “fly”.