AUSTIN (KXAN) — Whether it comes to testing rockets or infrastructure, Firefly Aerospace has been able to do just that in Central Texas for more than a decade now.
The space flight company was founded in Hawthorne, California in early 2014. But later that year in November, it made the bold move to expand the company in Cedar Park, according to the city.
In addition to the Cedar Park location, the space flight company also has a facility in Briggs, which is north of Austin near Florence.
KXAN reported in 2022 that the Briggs facility employs around 500 people from the Austin area. The Briggs facility is also where the space company builds and tests its rockets.
Firefly Aerospace has continued to expand its facilities in Central Texas, which has allowed the space flight company to test rockets and complete a successful lunar mission.
While testing and lunar landings have been successful for Firefly Aerospace, there are rocket test launches that have gone wrong. In 2020, KXAN reported a fuel leak happened during one of its rocket tests that caused an explosion at the site.
On Monday, Firefly Aerospace confirmed one of its rockets exploded at its facility in Briggs. This means the upcoming mission for Alpha FLTA007 Rocket will not take to the sky again any time soon.
“We learn from each test to improve our designs and build a more reliable system. We will share more information on the path forward at a later date,” the space flight company said Monday.
In March, KXAN reported the Blue Ghost One lunar landing was successful after a 45-day journey. According to the space flight company, this made the lunar lander — that was built in Central Texas — the first to land successfully on the moon.
At the time, Firefly Aerospace said the spacecraft would capture the first images of a lunar sunset, which has only been seen once before during the Apollo era.
Eric Henrikson contributed to this report
Credit: Source link
