Elon Musk’s SpaceX might be the world’s most valuable private company — and by the looks of it, it will be staying that way for a long time. But filling the gap on Wall Street, space-faring firms have been roaring back to life — surviving a purge of languishing names that haunted the industry in 2022 and 2023.

Names like Rocket LabRKLB

, Planet LabsPL

, and BlackSkyBKSY

have soared over 655%, 193%, and 173%, respectively, over the last year. And market newcomer Voyager TechnologiesVOYG

more than doubled in its June IPO. With the rockets roaring back to life, even more firms are coming off the launch pad.

Where should we land next? Firefly AerospaceFLY

— the first commercial space operation to land on the moon — has decided to make Wall Street its next mission. With a successful demonstration of its Blue Ghost lunar lander in tow (and a fresh $179M agreement with NASA for a 2028 mission), the organization now has proof that it can do the hard stuff (like make some money). Q1 revenues were up 572% year-over-year to $55.8M, mostly derived from Blue Ghost launches. But ultimately, the real pitch is in what lies ahead…

• At the end of Q1 2025, Firefly’s customer backlog surpassed $1.1B, a sign of the clear demand for spacecraft and launch — that’s up from $560M last year.
• The outfit has also lined up deals for 25 launches with Lockheed MartinLMT
  , plus an agreement to help Northrop GrummanNOC
  make a reusable rocket.

One Small Step forFLY

, One Giant Leap for PE

Firefly could soar to new heights, or risk a repeat of the recipe that landed many pandemic-era space companies on bankruptcy row. And the business comes with some pretty considerable baggage, even in the high-capex space sector.

• Firefly’s largest shareholder, a private equity group called AE Industrial Partners, says that it will remain a “controlled company” after it goes public.
• Per its S-1, the business has never been profitable; in Q1, its net loss was $60M, widening from 2024 when it was $52.7M.

At least it can hammer one problem: Debt. Firefly hopes to take the proceeds from its IPO and splurge on paying down $173.6M in debt, including a significant portion financed at rates that would make anybody cry (over 10%). To that end, a company that raised a $175M Series D in late 2024 now has to prove to investors that it can turn a profit (and stop relying on capital infusion).