Firefly Aerospace's third-quarter revenue more than triples to $110.7 million, with $1.7 billion backlog

Firefly Aerospace, the Texas company that builds Alpha rockets and Blue Ghost Moon landers, reported third-quarter revenue of $110.7 million on November 10, 2026, up from $30.8 million in the same quarter of 2025. That is more than three and a half times as much, by our arithmetic; Firefly puts the rise at 259%. Its backlog reached what it called a record $1.7 billion at the end of September, up from $1.5 billion three months earlier, and its net loss narrowed to $94.2 million from $133.4 million.

The company expects full-year revenue of $440 million to $450 million. With $309.2 million booked in the first nine months, that range implies about $131 million to $141 million in the fourth quarter, by our arithmetic.

Spacecraft, not rockets, drove the quarter

Almost all the growth came from Spacecraft Solutions, whose revenue rose to $106.0 million from $21.4 million. Firefly attributes the increase to SciTec, a maker of AI-enabled defense software that it acquired in the fourth quarter of 2025, and to progress on its Blue Ghost and Elytra spacecraft. Launch revenue fell by half, to $4.7 million from $9.4 million, which Firefly says reflects a contract modification in the year-earlier quarter that did not recur. Over nine months, launch revenue rose 31% to $27.4 million, helped, the company says, by its successful Alpha Flight 7 launch.

Spending and cash

Research and development spending rose 56% to $76.0 million, mainly, Firefly says, because it is ramping production of the upgraded Alpha Block II, with stock-based pay and depreciation also adding to costs. Selling, general and administrative costs rose 132% to $50.9 million. Cash and cash equivalents stood at $409.3 million at September 30, with another $125.4 million in short-term investments, against $793.0 million and $100.0 million at the end of 2025. In February the company repaid the $260.0 million then outstanding on its revolving credit facility, which was undrawn at the end of September.

Rockets, landers and defense work

Chief executive Jason Kim said the company had "five Moon missions running in parallel" and "Alpha Block II moving toward launch." During the quarter Lockheed Martin extended its agreement to as many as 25 Alpha launches through 2031 using the Block II version, and SSC Space signed for two Alpha launches from the Esrange Space Center in Sweden, Firefly's first European launch contracts. The release also lists a multi-launch agreement with the Japanese radar satellite company Synspective for up to 10 Alpha launches through 2030.

On the lunar side, Firefly's next Blue Ghost mission is expected to land on the far side of the Moon and operate on the surface for at least 10 days, with an Elytra spacecraft relaying communications from lunar orbit for up to five years. Including that flight, Firefly has four more Blue Ghost missions under NASA task orders, planned through 2029; the others are to go to the Gruithuisen Domes, the lunar south pole and the near side. Its new cleanroom, funded by a Texas Space Commission grant, can hold up to 12 landers and orbital vehicles in assembly at once. Firefly also won its first Mars work, a $13 million subcontract to build the aeroshell for NASA's SkyFall mission, which the Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages and which is targeted for launch in late 2028.

Defense contracts included a $94 million Space Force contract under its Ground-Based Radar Digitization program, for work overhauling legacy defense systems, and a place on a $981 million Space Force contract vehicle, called NITE-STAR, under which Firefly can compete for test and training task orders through 2032. After the quarter closed, Firefly signed engine license and supply agreements with AST SpaceMobile for a heavy-lift rocket AST plans to build, which Firefly's quarterly report puts at about $1.3 billion in cash and shares.

What to watch

The fourth quarter will show whether Firefly reaches its revenue range, and its filing lists launch delays or failures, whether Alpha can fly at the launch rate it expects, and finishing the development of its Eclipse rocket among the risks to its outlook. The company also cites its September 2025 test stand anomaly as an example of the operational failures that can delay missions.