Firefly CEO Thomas Markusic Talks Lunar Lander Dev’t Plans Ahead of Artemis Mission

Firefly Aerospace plans to move forward with the development of its Genesis lunar lander as its continues work on an orbital transfer vehicle in partnership with Aerojet Rocketdyne, ARS Technica reported Wednesday.

Firefly intends to power OTV using Aerojet Rocketdyne-built XR-5 Hall Thruster systems. In October, the two firms signed an agreement to perform additional work on Firefly’s Alpha launch vehicle intended to deliver payload to low-Earth orbit.

Genesis is based on Israeli firm SpaceIL’s Beresheet platform and is intended to carry up to 187.4 pounds of cargo to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Services Program.

“I see CLPS as a contemporary opportunity,” said Thomas Markusic, founder and CEO of Firefly, in an interview with the publication. “For Firefly, I saw this as something we had to go for.”

Firefly plans to produce two more launch vehicles to support additional flights ahead of NASA’s Artemis mission to the moon in 2024.