On Monday, Space Cotan Co., Ltd., operator of the Hokkaido Spaceport (HOSPO), announced it entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Texas-based launch company to conduct a feasibility study examining the practicality of launching Firefly’s Alpha rocket from its launch site.
Hokkaido Spaceport is located on the island of the same name in northern Japan, in an area called Taiki Town. The Spaceport bills itself as “a commercial spaceport that serves businesses and universities in Japan and abroad, as well as government agencies and other organizations.” It advertises launches from 42 degrees to 98 degrees, including Sun-synchronous orbits.
The Spaceport is reported to have room for two launch complexes designed to support the launches of small, orbital-class rockets. Which implies that Firefly will fund the construction of the launch complexes.
“Firefly will continue to expand our responsive launch capabilities to meet the growing demand of the satellite market across the globe,” said Adam Oakes, Vice President of Launch at Firefly Aerospace in a statement. “We look forward to exploring the opportunity to launch our Alpha rocket from Japan, which would allow us to serve the larger satellite industry in Asia and add resiliency for U.S. allies with a proven orbital launch vehicle.”
The "Big Picture" view of Firefly is a little tough to summarize. They had the great results with their lunar lander, becoming the first private company to successfully to do so when they put their Blue Ghost lander on the moon this past March 2nd. On the launch vehicle side, their results haven't been particularly good. All six of Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket launches so far took off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Of the six, the Alpha has logged two successful flights. Half of the remaining four ended up in the wrong orbit, and the other two failed to reach orbit at all.
Meanwhile, Firefly Aerospace also has its sights on bringing its launch capabilities to Europe. Specifically, they are working alongside the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) towards launching from the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden.
Most recently, a Technology Safeguards Agreement was signed on June 20 at the Embassy of Sweden in Washington D.C.. The agreement between the two countries creates the technical and legal apparatus to allow U.S. rockets to launch from Swedish spaceports.
Firefly Aerospace launches its sixth Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on April 29, 2025. Image: Trevor Mahlmann / Firefly Aerospace
Add to that overall summary of the company that the industry seems to think well of them. Back on August 7, they did an initial public offering (IPO) of stock in the company.
It went well for them. Shares in Firefly (FLY) began trading at $70 on the NASDAQ stock exchange midday Thursday, jumping from their offering price of $45, The Wall Street Journal reports. The company sold more than 19 million shares in the listing, raising $868 million.
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