Firefly Aerospace's new cleanroom facility will be used to build lunar landers and orbital vehicles, a company representative said. (Courtesy Firefly Aerospace)
Firefly Aerospace opened a new facility for spacecraft production this month, significantly expanding its ability to produce moon landers and orbital vehicles. Local and state government officials, as well as representatives from NASA and the Texas Space Commission, joined the company Sept. 22 to celebrate the opening of its new cleanroom at its Cedar Park headquarters.
What’s new
The new cleanroom is four times the size of Firefly’s existing cleanroom, a company representative said. Using both cleanrooms, Firefly will be able to produce up to 12 lunar landers and orbital vehicles simultaneously, Vice President of Spacecraft Ray Allensworth said.
The new cleanroom was funded in part by an $8.2 million grant from the Texas Space Commission and a $1 million grant from the city of Cedar Park. Texas Space Commission Executive Director Norm Garza said Firefly’s project was one of the first to receive funding from the state commission to be completed.
“It's really meaningful to have this level of support from the city and from the state. I think it really shows how invested they are and how they really see the value of companies like Firefly growing in Central Texas. I think it's really important to not just add companies like Firefly in Central Texas, but keep growing them and build a foundation,” Allensworth said.
The completion of the new cleanroom is a key step toward increasing access to the moon with “high-cadence” trips in reliable spacecraft, a news release states. That access will support NASA’s Moon Base program, which aims to build a long-term outpost near the moon’s South Pole, as well as the growing commercial economy on the moon, according to the release.
From the left: Firefly Vice President of Spacecraft Ray Allensworth, Texas Space Commission Executive Director Norm Garza, Firefly CEO Jason Kim, NASA CLPS Project Manager Adam Schlesinger, Texas Space Commission Board Chair Gwen Griffin and NASA Moon Base Deputy Manager Jim Geffre cut the ribbon for Firefly expansion. (Courtesy Firefly Aerospace)Courtesy Firefly Aerospace
Some context
Cedar Park-based Firefly became the first commercial company to successfully land on the moon when its Blue Ghost lander touched down in March 2025.
Firefly “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,” a news release states.
The new cleanroom is part of the company’s 144,000-square-foot campus in north Cedar Park.
What’s next
Firefly is planning to launch another lunar mission, its second, in early 2027. That mission will be the first time its Blue Ghost lunar lander and Elytra orbital vehicle will be used together, Allensworth said.
Firefly CEO Jason Kim said the company, along with NASA and others in the space industry, is focused on “creating the infrastructure and capabilities required for a sustained human presence on the lunar surface.”
Firefly’s expansion is part of a broader growth trend in the space industry in Central Texas and greater collaboration between NASA and the private sector, said Adam Schlesinger, head of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services project.
“Folks aren’t really competing for a piece of the pie,” Schlesinger said. “It’s now competing for how big their piece is because we have a lot to offer out there, and we need everyone to be successful to see that vision come to fruition.”
Firefly is an important part of the local economy in Cedar Park and will continue to be one into the future, Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin said.
“As a city, we’re really proud of all these different partnerships,” Penniman-Morin said. “[These partnerships] with the Texas Space Commission, the neighboring communities, private industry, education—all that comes together in a way that creates really positive, meaningful benefits deep into the future, not just for our community but for the whole planet, really.”
