Firefly Aerospace, Inc., an end-to-end space transportation company, and space defense technology company True Anomaly, Inc., today announced a multi-launch agreement for three responsive launch missions aboard Firefly’s Alpha rocket.
The first mission will deploy the True Anomaly Jackal Autonomous Orbital Vehicle (AOV) for the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command’s VICTUS HAZE Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) mission targeted for 2025. The two additional missions are available for execution between 2025 and 2027.
True Anomaly first announced it was selected for the VICTUS HAZE mission in April of 2024. Now with support from Firefly, the company will execute four main phases: build, hot standby, launch, and on-orbit operations.
During the build phase, True Anomaly will complete development and testing of its Jackal Autonomous Orbital Vehicle at its factory GravityWorks in Denver, Colorado, and transport it to Firefly’s SLC-2 payload processing facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California for fueling, integration, and encapsulation in Alpha’s fairing. The True Anomaly and Firefly joint mission team will then enter the hot standby phase while the encapsulated payload remains stored in Firefly’s environmentally controlled processing facility.
True Anomaly and Firefly will remain on call until the U.S. Space Force provides the notice to launch. The Firefly team will then have 24 hours to transport the payload fairing to the pad, mate the fairing to Alpha, fuel the rocket, and launch within the first available window. Once True Anomaly’s Jackal spacecraft is deployed, True Anomaly will begin its on-orbit operations.
“VICTUS HAZE is an exemplar for how strong partnerships between the U.S. government and an exceptional industry team can create asymmetric capabilities at record speeds,” said Evan Rogers, Co-founder and CEO of True Anomaly. “Firefly Aerospace has consistently demonstrated innovation and agility in the rapidly evolving landscape of responsive space launch logistics and space vehicle deployment. We are confident that they will build on their track record from VICTUS NOX, enabling True Anomaly to deploy the Jackal Autonomous Orbital Vehicle for VICTUS HAZE. The procurement of additional rapid, responsive launch capacity from Firefly beyond VICTUS HAZE, paired with True Anomaly’s rapid manufacturing capability, will enable standing capacity for the U.S. National Security Space enterprise to rapidly respond to mission requirements in Low Earth Orbit and Medium Earth Orbit.“
Evan continued, “With the significant advantages in AI, and the workload of human operators required to rapidly interpret changes, it still remains critical that human guidance is available to continue to protect the users and technology in order to provide the ultimate outcome.”
“After launching VICTUS NOX last year, the Firefly team is ready to hit the ground running to support another rapid launch for tactically responsive space,” said Jason Kim, CEO at Firefly Aerospace. “We are honored by the vote of confidence from True Anomaly and the U.S. Space Force in Firefly’s ability to unlock repeatable, on-demand launch capabilities that enable our nation to respond to urgent on-orbit needs.”
VICTUS HAZE will be the second U.S. Space Force mission Firefly has supported with its rapid launch capabilities. In September 2023, Firefly successfully launched the U.S. Space Force’s VICTUS NOX mission following a 24-hour notice, demonstrating a critical capability for the United States to rapidly respond to on-orbit needs during a conflict or in response to a national security threat. The Firefly team has since operated every Alpha launch as a responsive space demonstration, enabling the team to continue practicing and streamlining its rapid launch capabilities for both government and commercial customers.
About Firefly Aerospace
Firefly Aerospace is an end-to-end space transportation company with launch, lunar, and on-orbit services. Headquartered in central Texas, Firefly is a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners (“AEI”) focused on delivering responsive, reliable, and affordable space access for government and commercial customers. Firefly’s small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide the space industry with a single source for missions from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond.
