Firefly Aerospace Signs Starcloud as Commercial Customer, Demonstrating Data Center Capabilities Around the Moon

*Rendering of Firefly’s Elytra vehicle in lunar orbit with Starcloud’s compute payload onboard

CEDAR PARK, Texas, Sept. 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Firefly Aerospace (Nasdaq: FLY), a market leading space and defense technology company, today announced a new commercial payload agreement with Starcloud to demonstrate advanced AI computing capabilities in lunar orbit. Starcloud's computing payload, designated SC-1L, will fly onboard Firefly's Elytra orbital vehicle to validate the core capabilities of a future data center around the Moon that can support lunar surface and orbital infrastructure.

"We’re proud to collaborate with innovative customers like Starcloud and collectively take another step toward establishing the infrastructure that will power a permanent human and robotic presence at the Moon," said Ray Allensworth, Vice President of Spacecraft at Firefly Aerospace. "By pairing Starcloud's AI computing payload with our Elytra vehicle and Solux vision system, we're demonstrating how data can be captured, processed, and delivered from lunar orbit, laying the groundwork for the computing infrastructure future lunar operations will depend on."

Integrated on Elytra, Starcloud's SC-1L processor will ingest data from Firefly's onboard Solux vision system, perform high-power AI computing on orbit, and rapidly transmit the processed data back to Earth. The demonstration builds directly on Starcloud's recent AI computing demonstration in low Earth orbit, extending those proven capabilities into lunar orbit.

Starcloud is being onboarded to Firefly's third lunar mission that’s targeted to launch no earlier than 2028. For this mission, Firefly’s Elytra orbiter will first serve as the transfer vehicle and communications relay for Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander that will land on the Moon's Gruithuisen Domes and operate several science and technology instruments as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Following completion of the mission, Elytra will remain in lunar orbit for five years to enable customer payload and imaging operations, including Starcloud's demonstration.

"Space is the future of data centers, and the Moon is the next frontier for that vision," said Ezra Feilden, Cofounder and CTO at Starcloud. "We successfully validated our ability to run and train AI models on enterprise grade GPUs in low Earth orbit, and now we’re taking this proven technology to lunar orbit. Onboard Firefly’s Elytra vehicle, we’ll demonstrate high-power AI computing and further prove we can process massive volumes of data right where it's generated to support the growing infrastructure beyond Earth.”

Formerly known as Sol3, Firefly’s Solux vision system onboard Elytra enables spacecraft to autonomously navigate, land, and track their orientation in space environments where Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and GPS are unavailable. Elytra will also have high-resolution telescopes onboard to enable Firefly’s Ocula lunar imaging service that provides advanced lunar surface mapping, mineral detection, and reconnaissance.

This will be the second Elytra vehicle Firefly is deploying to lunar orbit following the launch of Blue Ghost Mission 2, targeted for no earlier than 2027. Each Elytra vehicle is designed to remain in lunar orbit for up to five years, enabling more rapid revisit times of the lunar surface for government and commercial customers.

Firefly also recently announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to process data on orbit for its Ocula lunar imaging service. The Ocula data will be rapidly processed onboard Elytra in lunar orbit and autonomously transmitted back to Earth utilizing the NVIDIA Jetson module and Firefly’s AI software through its SciTec subsidiary. This allows Firefly to mitigate downlink constraints from the Moon by processing data in lunar orbit before it is transmitted to Earth as real-time, actionable insights.

About Firefly Aerospace
Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for responsive space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with approximately 24-hour notice and the first to achieve a successful landing on the Moon. Established in 2017, Firefly’s engineering, manufacturing, and test facilities are co-located in central Texas to enable rapid innovation and vertical integration for the company’s small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles. For more information, visit www.fireflyspace.com.

Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” including, but not limited to, statements regarding the expected capabilities and demonstrations of Elytra, Solux and Ocula lunar imaging service, expected launch dates for Blue Ghost missions, AI capabilities, statements of Firefly’s Vice President of Spacecraft, and other statements regarding Firefly’s future expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, financial condition, assumptions, future events, or performance that are not historical facts. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “allows” “enable,” “may,” “position,” “will,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “would,” “target”, “set,” “intends,” “support,” and “believes.” There may also be negative words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans, or intentions. Not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. The inclusion of forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation that such plans, estimates, or expectations will be achieved.

Various risks that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed by the forward-looking statements included in this press release include, but are not limited to: our failure to manage our growth effectively, including the increasing technological complexity of our business, and our ability to achieve and maintain profitability; the potential for delayed or failed launches, and any failure of our launch vehicles and spacecraft to operate as intended; our inability to deliver software on time or of a quality that our customers demand; the hazards and operational risks that our products and service offerings are exposed to, including the wide and unique range of risks due to the unpredictability of space; the inability to realize our backlog; the fluctuation of our operating results; adverse publicity stemming from any incident involving us, our competitors, or our customers; the failure to adequately protect our proprietary intellectual property rights; our inability to comply with our contractual obligations; and other risk factors set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained herein, which speak only as of the date hereof. These statements are based on management’s current expectations, assumptions, and beliefs concerning future developments, which are inherently subject to uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. We cannot assure you that the events reflected in the forward-looking statements will occur; actual events could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. We undertake no intent or obligation to publicly update or revise any of the estimates and other forward-looking statements made in this announcement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Media Contact
press@fireflyspace.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3111ca86-936c-41ba-9720-bd90184f89e6