Firefly's Value Tops $1 Billion Ahead of Launch

Look, Ma. Another Space Unicorn

Short and sweet story out today. The once high-flying, once bankrupt and now ready to launch Firefly Aerospace has pulled in $75 million of fresh funds. The company says it’s now valued at more than $1 billion but, for reasons beyond me, refuses to say exactly how much it’s valued at. How coy.

Also, Max Polyakov, the guy who has been bank-rolling Firefly with $200 million of his own money, sold $100 million worth of his shares to some unnamed investors. Polyakov gets a bit of cash back and loses some control of the company but remains its largest shareholder.

He’s a fascinating human.

Firefly has had a rocket on a California launchpad for months and months as it goes for its first launch. Per usual for these rocket things, a series of weird issues have kept the machine from being able to fly. The latest issue: the onboard bomb that’s meant to go off if the rocket is flying off course is missing some parts.

Here’s Max trying to get into the cabinet where they keep the bomb.