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Satnews Daily
July 11th, 2019

A Firefly on the Moon ... Firefly Aerospace Partners With Israel Aerospace Industries for Lunar Lander Missions


Firefly Aerospace has signed an Intellectual Property and Engineering Support Agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for technology based on the Beresheet Lunar Lander.

Firefly Aerospace is one of the nine companies selected by NASA to participate in the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program to deliver science payloads to the surface of the Moon.  


The Firefly Genesis lander.

The illustration is courtesy of the company.

Firefly CEO, Dr. Tom Markusic, said Firefly is excited to partner with IAI in architecting a complete lunar science mission for NASA's CLPS initiative. IAI's culture of engineering innovation and bold vision make our partnership a perfect solution for America as the nation realizes its return to the moon. This agreement with IAI will allow Firefly to build on the firm's momentum and expand the company's lunar capabilities by creating a U.S.-built version of IAI’s historic lunar lander.  Having access to flight proven lunar lander technology and the expertise of IAI engineers makes Firefly well placed to gain a foothold in the cislunar market.

Boaz Levi, EVP and GM of Systems, Missiles & Space Group, added that the experience gained in the Beresheet Moon mission co-developed with SpaceIL puts IAI at the forefront of lunar lander technology and enables us to undertake additional lunar missions with proven technology and significant engineering experience and know-how. The company's partnership with Firefly Aerospace will offer NASA the firm's experience in rapid and affordable lunar missions, including all lessons learned from the Beresheet endeavor.

Shea Ferring, Firefly VP of Mission Assurance, added that the company will provide the only NASA CLPS program flight-proven lander design. NASA and the U.S. will greatly benefit from IAI’s next generation lander design, leveraging extensive Beresheet lander design and flight operations experience. ‘Genesis’, a predominately U.S.-built version of the lander, delivers a low-cost integrated solution for reliable lunar surface missions.