Firefly wins NASA payload-processing contract for Vandenberg missions
NASA added Firefly to its Spacecraft Processing Operations Contract, letting it compete for payload-processing task orders at Vandenberg.
what happened
NASA onboarded Firefly Aerospace to its Spacecraft Processing Operations Contract (SPOC) through an on-ramp provision, alongside All Points Logistics, Blue Origin and L3Harris Technologies, per Firefly's August 17 release and NASA's own August 17 announcement. The multiple-award, firm-fixed-price IDIQ contract has a combined $100 million ceiling and an ordering period through February 2033. The award lets Firefly compete for task orders providing payload processing, fueling, integration and encapsulation services for NASA missions launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base, using its Payload Processing Facility near Space Launch Complex 2.
why it matters
The award gives Firefly a second revenue line beyond launch vehicles and lunar landers: selling ground-processing infrastructure to NASA missions that don't fly on Firefly rockets. It also reflects NASA's push to add commercial payload-processing capacity on the West Coast, where options have trailed Florida's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- Firefly Aerospace
- Category
- procurement
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 5 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-08-17
- Published
- 2026-08-18 05:29 UTC