Firefly Space Systems announced today that it will receive up to $1,225,000 in incentives and employment grants from The City of Cedar Park Economic Development Corporation following the rocket company’s recent relocation from Hawthorne, California to its new home in Cedar Park, Texas. Firefly’s expansion plans include building its team in Central Texas to 200 employees with an annual payroll of approximately $12 million by 2019.
The company also plans to invest approximately $7.5 million in property, plant and equipment over the duration of the 10-year agreement with Cedar Park. Current negotiations for an undisclosed 20,000-square-foot office location for Firefly are also nearing finalization.
“Two hundred jobs is a very significant project for us. These jobs average out—and the company has committed—to $60,000 per job. That’s above the county median wage, and that is the number we typically focus on to determine if the jobs high-paying” noted Mr. Larry Holt, Cedar Park Assistant Economic Development Director.
CEO of Firefly Space Systems added that, “Our employees and executive team are very excited to be here in Texas. The business community in the Greater Austin area has been very welcoming and helpful. We look forward to transitioning to our new home in Cedar Park.
Firefly’s office in Cedar Park will be ideally located due to its proximity to the company’s newly acquired 200+ acre test site facility in nearby Briggs, TX. While launch sites have yet to be determined, Firefly’s Chief Operating Officer PJ King has interest in Texas’ Brownsville area launch site.
“We absolutely want to build a launch site here in Texas. Having our launch site in Texas would be a triple whammy bringing together design & engineering, testing and a launch site all in one state,” King said.
ABOUT FIREFLY SPACE SYSTEMS: Firefly is a small satellite launch company with locations in Austin, TX and Hawthorne, CA. Our team consists of seasoned aerospace engineers that have spent the past decade working at various New Space companies, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic.
