Firefly Aerospace signs dual Alpha launch deal with SSC Space
Firefly Aerospace has signed a multi-launch agreement with SSC Space for two missions of its Alpha small-lift rocket from Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden, with launches targeted no earlier than 2028. The deal marks the first contracted orbital launches from mainland Europe under the Firefly and SSC Space partnership, which has been building out dedicated infrastructure at Esrange since the two companies established a transatlantic regulatory framework.
Under the agreement, SSC Space secures the full payload capacity of both missions and may allocate that space across its own government and commercial customer base, giving European satellite operators a new rideshare option without routing through a US or equatorial launch site. Named customers have not been disclosed, though Firefly's announcement indicates Swedish national security agencies are among the intended beneficiaries.
The deal
Infrastructure work at Esrange's Launch Complex 3C is nearing completion. Firefly and SSC Space have finished a launch control centre, payload processing facility, vehicle integration building, tracking and control systems, and security and storage facilities. Final pad construction is the remaining milestone before the site becomes operational.
Firefly chief executive Jason Kim framed the contract within what the company calls a "launch as a franchise" model, in which Firefly licenses its Alpha vehicle and associated launch services to site operators rather than operating every pad directly. "These first two missions are just the start of a long-term, multi-launch partnership with SSC Space that will provide assured access to space for years to come," Kim said.
SSC Space chief executive Charlotta Sund said the arrangement strengthens European "strategic autonomy within the defence domain," language that reflects the continent's broader push to reduce dependence on non-European launch providers following the retirement of Ariane 5 and delays to Ariane 6.
Market context
European orbital launch capacity has been a persistent gap in the continent's space industrial base. Ariane 6 entered service with significant delays, and the only other European orbital option currently flying is RocketLab's Electron, which launches from New Zealand and Virginia rather than European soil. Mainland European orbital launches have historically been limited to Kourou in French Guiana, which, while legally European Union territory, is geographically in South America.
The Esrange deal positions Firefly alongside a small group of launch providers competing for the growing small-satellite and rideshare market, including Rocket Lab, SpaceX (via Transporter dedicated rideshare missions) and a number of pre-operational European startups such as Isar Aerospace and PLD Space. For European defence customers in particular, the combination of geographic proximity and a NATO-aligned launch site operator carries meaningful operational and political value that purely commercial pricing comparisons do not capture.
The deal also reflects tightening export-control dynamics. Establishing dedicated transatlantic regulatory frameworks, as Firefly and SSC Space have done, is a prerequisite for launching a US-manufactured rocket from non-US soil under International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Completing that compliance groundwork is a significant barrier to entry that the two companies can now point to as a competitive moat.
Firefly's Alpha has completed multiple successful orbital missions since its debut. The 2028 target window for the Esrange launches gives the company time to complete pad construction while managing its existing manifest from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.