Firefly Aerospace Inc. ($FLY)

Greetings. Welcome to the Firefly Aerospace First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference call is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Michael Sheetz, Firefly's Director of Investor Relations. Michae, you may begin.

Thank you, operator. Hello there, and may the fourth be with you. I'm Michael Sheetz, and welcome to Firefly's First Quarter Financial Results Call. I'm pleased to be joined on the call by CEO, Jason Kim; and CFO, Darren Ma, as we report for the period ending March 31, 2026. Today's call will include forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements the company will make about its future financial and operating performance, growth strategy and market outlook. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results and trends to differ materially are set forth in our annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC. Firefly assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their respective dates. Also, in this call, we will discuss both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures is included in the first quarter 2026 earnings release. Unless otherwise stated, financial information referenced in this call will be non-GAAP. Our earnings press release, SEC filings and a replay of today's call can be found on our Investor Relations website at investors.fireflyspace.com. Now I'll turn the call over to Jason.

Thank you, Michael, and welcome to our first quarter 2026 earnings call. Firefly opened the year with strong execution and increasing momentum driven by major government programs that align directly with our core capabilities. We delivered record quarterly revenue of $81 million. The acceleration of the Artemis program, combined with NASA's Moon base initiative calls for monthly robotic lunar landings and reinforces the demand signals we've been building toward. Our early investments to scale Blue Ghost production and our milestone as the first commercial company to land on the Moon successfully position us to be a critical commercial partner as NASA expands lunar operations. With 3 additional missions ahead, we're already executing towards the goal. We also advanced our Ocula lunar imaging service through a new partnership with NVIDIA, enabling on-orbit processing for faster, more actionable data in cislunar space. On the national security front, Firefly's subsidiary, SciTec, secured an agreement with the U.S. Space Force to support the Space-Based Interceptor program under Golden Dome. We are concurrently delivering and proving the value of our AI-enabled data processing through the U.S. Space Force's operational FORGE Missile Defense system. Within launch, the capacity-constrained market is driving increased demand for Alpha following its successful return to flight. We also completed the VICTUS DIEM responsive launch demonstration and made steady progress on our reusable Eclipse rocket in the first quarter. The pace of change in the space economy is accelerating, and Firefly is scaling up our existing revenue-generating capabilities to meet the demand across every line of business. For those new to Firefly, we are a space and defense company delivering innovative hardware and software to perform the hardest missions in space for national security, exploration and commercial technology. Our hardware is represented by 4 revenue-generating products, our Blue Ghost lunar landers, electro satellite orbiters, small lift Alpha rockets and medium-lift Eclipse rockets. Firefly's software portfolio falls under SciTec's AI-enabled defense systems, which are proven in national security operations. The industry tailwinds behind artificial intelligence and data centers are fueling operational realities for our company as we deliver crucial no-fill systems in support of the U.S. and our allies. We are meeting the U.S. government's call for commercial investment, speed and scale in defense and exploration. Our advanced technology products and funding of infrastructure include upgrades and expansion of Firefly's co-located spacecraft and rocket factories, clean rooms and test stands as well as our data centers and classified facilities. Now turning to our business updates. In the first quarter, we completed new milestones across each of our product lines and services. The lunar opportunity is here. Recent milestones, including the NASA Moon Base event, Artemis II successful lunar orbit and our Blue Ghost Moon landing and service operations ignited the industry and the world. The Moon is now a permanent destination. NASA's Moon base plan represents a dramatic acceleration of the Artemis program with a detailed pathway to a regular cadence of missions to the surface and persistent support from satellites and lunar orbit. Our prior growth strategy was to extend from Moon landing a year to multiple a year, and now we have an amplified demand signal from NASA. The agency's objective is to provide monthly robotic landings on the Moon surface starting next year as well as larger lander missions to support the required lunar infrastructure for a permanent presence. The first 2 phases of the NASA Moon base architecture taking place over the next 7 years represents a $20 billion program with multiple shots on goal opportunities for Firefly. When you combine Blue Ghost, the only commercial lander to operate successfully with our electric spacecraft, we provide the ideal system to deliver and support many of the payloads and capabilities needed such as navigation, orbital communications, surface observation, power infrastructure, exploration drones, rovers, cargo and support systems for humans on the Moon. The Moon is a vastly untapped resource, and Firefly is the tip of the spear in the routine deliveries and services that NASA needs to support a permanent presence on the Moon. Last week, we heard NASA administrator Isaacman's request in a congressional hearing to template Blue Ghost and launch with frequency. As stated earlier, we are already building towards this. In the first quarter, we made significant progress on our new cleanroom, which is 4x the size of our existing cleanroom. This enables a production line of lunar landers for frequent missions. We are leveraging our vertical integration to scale up while also investing in our Blue Ghost supply chain. We are working closely with each major supplier to ensure they are ramping up with us through long-term agreements and strategic inventory in place to ensure quality, schedule and quantities of delivery. Meanwhile, assembly of our Blue Ghost lander and Elytra orbiter is well underway for Blue Ghost Mission 2, and we're on track to complete assembly and payload integration this summer. We named Blue Ghost Mission 2 riders to the dark as our team charges toward another historic milestone, conducting the first American landing on the Moon's far side, carrying both NASA and commercial payloads. We are making progress on our additional lander contracts with the Blue Ghost Mission 3 preliminary design review complete, which verifies the vehicles designed to deliver payloads to the Moon's Gruithuisen Domes. The team is now preparing to complete the critical design review for Mission 3 while also getting ready to complete the preliminary design review for Blue Ghost Mission 4 to the Moon's South pole. Moving to Elytra. We're pleased to add NVIDIA as another Firefly partner with our first collaboration included as part of our Ocula lunar imaging service. NVIDIA's Jetson module was embedded in the high-resolution Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory telescopes and delivered to Firefly spacecraft facility for integration on our Elytra orbital vehicle. This Elytra will first serve as a transfer vehicle and communications relay for Blue Ghost and then began our Ocula service to support advanced lunar service mapping, mineral detection and reconnaissance for 5 years in lunar orbit. Our Ocula data will be rapidly processed onboard Elytra and autonomously transmitted back to Earth utilizing the NVIDIA Jetson module, combined with Firefly's SciTec-enabled AI software. This allows Firefly to mitigate downlink constraints from the Moon by processing data on orbit before it is transmitted to Earth as real-time actionable insights for government and commercial customers. Firefly's AI software will further enable advanced space domain awareness. Our AI algorithms and data fusion technologies are already proven in critical national security missions in Earth orbit. Our software will enable Elytra to leverage multiple data feeds on board to more accurately track objects and provide timely situational awareness of space operations occurring in the cislunar domain. These capabilities are transferable to Elytra's upcoming space domain awareness mission for the Defense Innovation Unit Sinequone project. This mission also incorporates high-resolution Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory telescopes, just like the ones enabling our Ocula service. After completing the critical design review for the mission, the team has begun building and testing ELECTRO flight hardware. Additionally, in the first quarter, Firefly completed critical Elytra test milestones for Blue Ghost Mission 2, including separation testing to demonstrate Elytra's mechanisms that will deploy the European Space Agency's Lunar Pathfinder satellite following separation from our Blue Ghost lander. This further highlights Elytra's ability to operate and deploy critical high mass payloads across cislunar space. The team also completed the initial interoperability testing to ensure our Elytra orbiter communicates with Blue Ghost on the Moon's far side and access a backup communications relay for NASA's LuSEE-Night payload. This enables NASA's radio telescope to operate for up to 2 years on the surface even without direct line of sight to earth. This relay service on Elytra is the pathway to our commercial offering, delivering alternative communications options that reduce blackout periods and strengthen connectivity for multiple future lunar missions for Firefly and our customers. As we saw at the recent Space Symposium event, there is growing demand for Elytra's robust capabilities, combined with our AI-powered software to support dynamic space operations for national security, space exploration and international missions. The demand includes space maneuverability to novel orbits, de-orbit services for multiple spacecraft and long-haul communications. At the symposium, U.S. Space Force Major General Purdy further emphasized the need for enhanced national security capabilities in cislunar space, including transportation, communications and navigation systems beyond earth orbit. Once deployed, those assets require protection and continuous monitoring, which is best done from the Moon as the ultimate high ground. Our Elytra vehicles are well-positioned to enable these missions with high-thrust precision Spectre engines, ample fuel and payload capacity and AI software. As General Saltzman said in his April 30 congressional testimony, speed, scale and clear demand signals are critical and Elytra positions us to capture that with a responsive on-orbit capability. We'll continue to scale up our Elytra production line as demand steadily increases. Moving to our SciTec software offerings under our spacecraft business. We are pleased to be selected by the U.S. Space Force to support the Space-Based Interceptor program under Golden Dome. In a Space Force press release just a week ago, this program was announced to develop a space-based missile defense interceptor system that will demonstrate capability integrated into the Golden Dome architecture by 2028. Space Force awarded a select group of companies, including Firefly's subsidiary, SciTec, with contracts totaling up to $3.2 billion. This critical program will enable next-generation space-based tracking and advanced interceptors integrated with artificial intelligence to counter the speed, maneuverability and lethality of threats. As the prime contractor, we continue to execute on the operational U.S. Space Force FORGE system, providing a modernized AI-enabled missile warning and tracking architecture. We're rapidly processing vast amounts of data from satellites across all orbits from LEO to MEO to GEO to deliver high-quality mission-critical information to our war fighters to defend against threats. After the Space Force operationally accepted our FORGE system last year, in the first quarter, we were awarded a $109 million engineering change proposal to accelerate and expand data center delivery. This critical system processed thousands of threats in the first 30 days of the Iran conflict to help protect our war fighters. The team further completed the interim ground readiness review for the Space Development Agency as part of our role in delivering the mission management and data fusion ground components for the proliferated warfighter Space Architecture Satellite Constellation Tranche 1 tracking layer. More recently, the Air Force Research Laboratory awarded us a contract to support development of the advanced algorithm R&D and verification architecture by implementing deep learning and advanced AI algorithms on small size, weight and power processors. This capability supports enhanced target detection, tracking and custody and is conducive to future on-orbit processing missions. Last week, we also heard Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Caine, underscore in a congressional hearing the urgent need for critical investments in space-based command and control, artificial intelligence and advanced surveillance and reconnaissance. This capability counters modern multi-domain threats where operations are coordinated and synchronized across air, land, sea, space and cyber domains. Our proven AI software and on-orbit processing capabilities are well positioned to support these multi-domain operations. Shifting to launch. In March, Alpha Flight 7 successfully returned to flight and completed all mission objectives after deploying a Lockheed Martin demonstrator payload and validating key Block II subsystems. Additionally, in the first quarter, Firefly supported Lockheed Martin on the U.S. Space Force's VICTUS DIEM mission, performing 2 responsive space exercises to practice and advance emergency launch protocols required in a real threat scenario. VICTUS DIEM marks the second tactically responsive space effort that Firefly completed to date after our record-setting VICTUS NOX mission, which launched with a 24-hour notice. The first VICTUS DIEM exercise included a rapid payload processing demonstration where spacecraft arrival operations, checkouts, mating and encapsulation were completed in under 12 hours. The second exercise included a 36-hour rapid launch simulation to practice and advance emergency launch protocols required to execute tactically responsive space missions in a real threat scenario. We are now focused on delivering our first Block II vehicle, which will debut on Flight 8 that's targeted to launch late this summer. Block II is designed to expand Alpha's deployable launch capabilities for critical responsive space missions such as hypersonic testing, national security missions and commercial satellite launches for domestic and international customers. Firefly completed qualification testing for the first and second stage tanks for Flight 8 and moved into the integration and test phase as we progress towards launch. The significant improvements across Alpha from Block II focus around enhancing reliability and production rate as part of our company culture of safety, quality and reliability. And we're working ahead. We have structures and engines in build for Flights 9, 10 and beyond, rolling off our automated fiber placement machine and into assembly as we continue to target 3 more Alpha launches in 2026. For our 2027 manifest and beyond, we talked to both new and repeat customers at Space Symposium this year and see strong interest in Alpha on the heels of our successful Flight 7 launch. As we look to the future, we are pleased to see the recent Swedish defense budget allocating tens of millions to invest in orbital launch infrastructure. Our international partners want to bring Alpha to market in Sweden as well as other allied countries to meet the growing demand for satellite launch capabilities around the globe. This approach allows us to not only increase our launch cadence, but also open new markets, add resiliency to our launch sites and provide a national security advantage. Firefly also recently signed an agreement with Seagate Space to collaborate on the development of an offshore launch platform that enables responsive sea-based Alpha launches. Together, we will work to mature the design of an integrated offshore launch system capable of supporting the unique requirements of liquid fueled orbital rockets. These capabilities are in alignment with the Space Force's demands for flexible infrastructure to accommodate responsive small launches and eliminate single points of failure. In the Space Port of the Future report, they've called for flexible manifesting, rapid integration and launch to orbit time lines of 24 hours or less for designated payloads, which we've proven on VICTUS NOX. Everything we learned from building testing and launching our Alpha rockets allows us to improve and reduce risk for Eclipse. Our reusable medium-lift vehicle is marching towards a debut while the need for more launch capacity from more providers is growing. All the major flight articles for our first Eclipse vehicles are in build and test, including our Miranda flight engines. In the first quarter, we completed qualification of the Eclipse interstage, a critical primary structure that connects the first stage to the second stage as well as the liquid oxygen transfer line in the composite overwrap pressure vessels. More recently, we are progressing through the test campaign on Eclipse's first stage tanks, which tower nearly 100 feet tall. This risk reduction testing allows us to push the tanks beyond their limits to verify flight margins. With that business summary, I'll turn it over to Darren for a review of the first quarter financials.

Thank you, Jason, and good afternoon, everyone. We delivered record Q1 revenue driven by strong business fundamentals. As Jason highlighted, we have multiple growth drivers in place, which gives us confidence in achieving our long-term objectives. In today's call, I'm going to review the financial results of first quarter 2026 before handing the call back to Jason for closing remarks. For listeners new to Firefly, I wanted to reemphasize that key operational metrics drive our financial performance. In our spacecraft solutions business, we generally recognize revenue over time under each contract as we complete milestones. This adds a more predictable recurring revenue component alongside the more event-driven launch business. For the launch business, we focus on the number of launches. For example, revenue for our operational Alpha vehicle is recognized at a point in time when the launch occurs. For Eclipse, while in development, we recognize revenue as a percentage of completion based on program milestones as part of the Northrop Grumman partnership. Once the Eclipse vehicle is operational, we will recognize revenue in the same manner as Alpha when launches occur. Now turning to our first quarter results. We delivered the highest quarter of revenue in the Company's history at $80.9 million. This compares with $57.7 million in the fourth quarter and $55.9 million in the same quarter a year ago. The sequential revenue growth was driven by the ramp of the FORGE and Golden Dome Space-Based Interceptor programs, a full quarter of SciTec and the successful Alpha launch. Within our total revenue, spacecraft solutions accounted for $67.6 million and launch was $13.3 million. We ended the first quarter with a total backlog of approximately $1.3 billion, relatively flat from last quarter, reflecting the conversion of backlog to revenue and timing of new awards. As Jason mentioned earlier, we are excited about the industry tailwinds, including NASA opportunities for Blue Ghost, customer demand for Alpha, additional missions for Elytra and increasing demand for our AI software solutions. Our position in the market and these sector catalysts provide Firefly with confidence in our long-term revenue growth trajectory. First quarter GAAP gross margin was 21.6% compared with 27.7% in the prior quarter. The change was primarily due to a higher mix of cost-plus program contracts driving revenue. GAAP operating expenses for the first quarter were $113.1 million compared with $101.6 million in the fourth quarter. The increase was primarily from the inclusion of SciTec's operating expenses for the full quarter and our continued R&D investments. For operating expenses, the primary differences between GAAP and non-GAAP measures are stock-based compensation expense, onetime transaction-related expenses and the amortization of intangibles. Non-GAAP operating expenses for the first quarter were $93.7 million compared with $80.5 million in the fourth quarter. The sequential increase was driven by our continued R&D investments to support Alpha Block II production ramp and Eclipse development. GAAP operating loss was $95.7 million compared with a loss of $85.6 million in the fourth quarter. Non-GAAP operating loss was $76.2 million compared with a loss of $64.5 million in the fourth quarter. GAAP net loss in the first quarter was $96.7 million compared with a loss of $41.1 million in the fourth quarter. As a reminder, we recognized a onetime $37.1 million tax benefit related to the SciTec acquisition and a onetime $8.4 million gain on settlement of contingent liabilities in Q4. Our non-GAAP net loss in the first quarter was $74 million. This compares with a net loss of $58.5 million in the prior quarter. GAAP basic and diluted net loss per share was $0.61 compared with a loss of $0.26 last quarter. Non-GAAP basic and diluted net loss per share for the first quarter was $0.46 compared with a loss of $0.38 last quarter. We exited Q1 with a share count of 160.1 million shares. We expect our total share count to increase by about 1 million shares per quarter. Stock-based compensation expense was $12.5 million in the first quarter compared to $12.6 million in the prior quarter. Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter was a loss of $64.7 million compared with a loss of $57.3 million in the fourth quarter. Turning to our balance sheet. We ended the quarter with a total liquidity of $811.6 million, consisting of $551.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments and $260 million of available capacity from our revolving credit facility. After the close of the quarter, we upsized the capacity of our credit facility to $305 million, which remains undrawn. Capital expenditures in the first quarter were $16.3 million compared with $12.1 million in the fourth quarter. The sequential increase was driven by test and upgrades to support Alpha Block II production and spacecraft manufacturing expansion that positions us to support NASA's accelerated lunar opportunities. Free cash flow was an outflow of $78.9 million compared with an outflow of $79.3 million in the fourth quarter. As a reminder, in the second quarter, we will have the final SciTec acquisition-related payment of approximately $24 million reflected in our cash flow. Now turning to our revenue outlook for 2026. With continued strength across our business, we remain confident in our trajectory to achieve significant annual revenue growth this year and are reiterating our outlook of $420 million to $450 million, consistent with what we gave on the March call. Thank you for your interest in Firefly. With that, I'll turn the call back to Jason for his closing remarks.

Thank you, Darren. The first quarter proved what we have been building toward. Firefly is not just participating in the space economy, we are shaping it. This is a defining moment in our industry from our Moon landing to missile defense systems, from responsive launch to AI-powered space domain awareness, we're delivering the integrated capabilities that define the future of space exploration and defense operations. NASA is accelerating. The space force is investing. Our allies are mobilizing. Firefly stands ready. With mission-proven hardware and production, battle tested software and operation and our team of Firefly is innovating and executing at pace. We stand at the threshold of a new era where what was once impossible becomes inevitable. Firefly has the end-to-end ecosystem to make it happen. Thank you for joining today's call. Michael, back to you.

Thank you, Jason. Operator, we're ready to take questions.

[Operator Instructions] It comes from the line of Sheila Kahyaoglu with Jefferies.

On this morning, you guys announced SciTec won a key position among 12 total companies on Space Force's Space-Based Interceptor program. Can you maybe elaborate on that one a little bit more, your positioning there and how SciTec accelerates the growth profile of Firefly?

Thanks, Sheila. I'll go back to what we've said before on previous earnings calls is that Firefly has multiple shots on goal for Golden Dome. And we've referenced that a lot of the capabilities that SciTec has in battle-tested AI development on the FORGE program, which went operational last September, it's seen a lot in real operations, particularly in Iran. And so a lot of the battle-tested algorithms are very transferable to other programs like Golden Dome. And if you remember what General Guetlein has said before, one of the hardest parts of such an architecture of this magnitude and complexity is the command and control and the power control and the ground processing. And because SciTec has battle-tested and has exercises AI, no fill missions and real-world operations. All those algorithms are transferable to Golden Dome as well. And then as you know, our Alpha rocket is able to take 1 ton to orbit as well as 2 tons to suborbital. So it makes it really rightsized to launch hypersonic tests, potentially targets for things like space-based interceptor. And so there's multiple shots that we have on goal.

Great. And maybe, Jason, you called out in the slides, you expect a $20 billion opportunity for the initial phases of the Artemis Moon Base program over the next 7 years based on listing missions and large landers. I guess what are you hoping -- and I'm sure you spoke it Space Symposium, what are you hearing from the customer on that? And can you talk about your operational readiness in support of that type of cadence?

Yes. The bold thinking that we heard from NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman recently in the last month since he released the Moon base plans by NASA is the exact type of thinking that we embraced at Firefly. We were already thinking ahead and already building out our cleanrooms and our production line capabilities to support not just one lunar lander a year, but multiple. And this just further validates or amplifies the demand signal. And so when you look at having a permanent presence on the Moon, you're going to have to validate a lot of technologies to understand the Moon better, to support human environmental control, life support systems on the Moon, take cargo to the Moon as well as have mobile mobility such as rovers and light terrain vehicles. So all those things are things that we are working on is landers that can be templated into production line landers so that we can address the frequency that's being demanded by NASA to take those types of technologies. One of the things that we're doing is we've quadrupled our cleanroom space compared to our existing cleanroom. And so that floor space and footprint helps us with the rate. We're also with our new Chief Operating Officer, Ramon Sanchez, that came in fourth quarter of last year. He's brought a lot of best practices and expertise of production flow and labor utilization and equipment utilization. And so that's helping us with ramping up production lines. We're vertically integrated as well. So one of the things that is important for rating up lunar landers is having the hardware put together, having the components. So we build the avionics, we build the harnesses, carbon composites, structures. But we also are investing in some of our supply chain of our key critical components. And so we're working closely with our supply chain in terms of having their dedicated support as well as strategic inventory and quality, safety, quality and reliability is really important to us. And so that's our focus as well because at the end of the day, it's about increasing the frequency of launch of these lunar landers. It's also building bigger lunar landers that we have designs for. And then the other thing is we want to ensure the probability of mission success, just like we did on Blue Ghost Mission 1.

Our next question comes from the line of Seth Seifman with JPMorgan.

I wanted to follow-up quickly on the space-based interceptor award for SciTec and just understand kind of in terms of how they fit in, how you see the ground station role kind of ramping up? What specifically -- the infrastructure that SciTec has now, is that what would be used to work on and support a space-based interceptor as part of Golden Dome? Is it something that would require the build-out of new infrastructure? I guess if you can kind of help us think about in a little bit more detailed way what that involves and where we saw there were several contracts that went out to different companies to work on it. Are there other competitors who are potentially playing the same role here?

Seth, I think I mentioned in fourth quarter of last year that SciTec -- the acquisition of SciTec was strategic and it truly is. It really bolstered Firefly's entrance into national security. And in particularly, SciTec is the prime contractor on FORGE. And that's a multi-hundred million dollar program of record. It is doing AI today in real-world operations. If you remember what General Guetlein said about Golden Dome, he's looking to defeat or stay ahead of the threats that have speed and maneuverability as well as lethality. And one of the things that counters that is AI and the use of AI. And because SciTec has that capability as well as a rich history of 45 years of algorithms that also have been used to support the Space Force and the Air Force and the Missile Defense Agency, all of those battle-tested operational algorithms are also brought to bear for things like golden dome ground processing. And so with the AI processing, you could speed up the time lines because the threats are very advanced. And in terms of the capabilities that SciTec has, they can mix and match a lot of those algorithms together to apply to this mission.

Okay. Okay. Cool. And then just in terms of the overall contribution that they had in the quarter, is that something that you guys can disclose?

Yes, Seth. We haven't broken it out separately, but FORGE and Golden Dome, Space-based interceptors, the revenue did ramp-up in Q1 this quarter.

Our next question comes from the line of Kristine Liwag with Morgan Stanley.

I wanted to follow-up on your comments about the Alpha after Stairway to Seven success. You called out stronger customer demand, but backlog is relatively flat in the quarter. Does that mean that you anticipate orders that occurred after the quarter closed? And how should we think about that order trends for the year?

Kristine, yes, we're seeing strong interest in Alpha on the heels of the successful Alpha Flight 7 Stairway to Seven mission. We completed all the post-flight data. Everything was nominal. And as you remember, I was in the mission control room with our team. And it was a flawless launch. It was with a Lockheed Martin demonstrator as well, and we were able to insert that into the proper orbit. We even had our relight of the second stage. And a lot of the transition to Block II, a lot of the components and technologies that are going to help us with manufacturability and reliability on Block II were tested on Flight 7 to include the avionics, the in-house avionics, the in-house batteries and some temperature protection systems. So we're very, very happy with those results. Because of that, when we're at Space Symposium, there was a lot of interest with existing customers as well as new customers. And it's just a matter of timing. A lot of our government customers, as you know, they're going through some timing with their funding as well as we had a lot of interactions with new customers as well. So I'll pass it on to Darren in terms of any additional.

Yes, I think you covered it, Jason. I mean also keep in mind, we burned down the backlog this quarter with a record revenue quarter as well.

Great. Super helpful. And if I could pivot to the Moon opportunities. So with NASA potentially right skipping Artemis and going straight to the Moon, Blue Ghost's capability set is really unique there with your successful landing as the first commercial company to have done so. But I was wondering, as you start seeing other companies really also accelerate their human landing systems capabilities and just much higher volume of potential payload that could reach the Moon. How do you think about where Blue Ghost lives in the construct when you have higher volume available to? Where does it live in that ecosystem? And how do we think about the longer-term opportunity for Blue Ghost? And I think, Jason, you called out that you're also looking at a higher payload lander in the future.

Yes. In terms of our Blue Ghost line, we have designs for larger landers. A lot of the underlying technologies that made us successfully land and perform the 14 days of service operations on Blue Ghost Mission 1 is transferable to our larger lander designs as well. If you go back to the NASA budgets, the CLPS 1.0 program, which is a highly successful program, has increased its budget from $2.6 billion to $4.2 billion. And then if you look at the anticipated CLPS 2.0 program, it's going to be around $6 billion. And when you look at post 2030 landings, there's at least 3 500 kilogram to lunar surface CLPS missions and then there's 12 3-ton mask to lunar surface as well and then the remaining 15 are around 8 tons of mask to lunar surface. Those are all in our road map. In fact, our larger lunar lander designs are scalable to meet that demand. So it's not just the frequency of launch cadence of these lunar landers that NASA is asking for. It's also the magnitude or the size of these lunar landers that are increasing. And because we have a lot of capabilities that share common vertical integrated components such as carbon composites and engine technology as well as avionics, we build big things at this company. Our Alpha rocket is 100 feet tall and our Eclipse rocket is 200 feet tall. So building a larger lander is right up our alley.

Great. Super helpful. And when do you think you could see these demand signals firm up into contracts?

We're seeing a lot of requests already, Kristine. And so there are things like CX-2. There's things like MoonFall and CS-8 and CLPS 2.0. And so these are -- majority of these are already solicitations that are already out. And so if NASA stays on schedule, performers can get on contract as no earlier than the third quarter of this year for some of these.

Our next question comes from Edison Yu with Deutsche Bank.

This is [ Laura ] on for Edison. So I want to ask about like more broadly, how should we think about the role of AI across your business today? I mean, given your recently announced NVIDIA collaboration, also the R&D contract you awarded, should we be thinking AI is like primarily supporting SciTec software? Or do you also see like it's becoming increasingly important for the spacecraft autonomy, et cetera?

Yes. You're exactly right, Laura, that we see AI as critically important to space. One of the visions that we have is we want to deploy on-orbit processing more and more. And that's what makes this SciTec acquisition so strategic fourth quarter last year is that we were thinking ahead and SciTec's software is operational on the ground today with big data centers to do no-fill space force missions, programs of records. But they also have experience operationally of performing on-orbit processing in space. And so that's one of the things that we envision at Firefly. We have the whole ecosystem to launch satellites, build the satellites, operate the satellites with processing on board with the SciTec algorithms to perform AI and processing with low latency because a lot of these missions that we're going after, especially in national security, have very, very short time lines to be effective. Our recent partnership news with NVIDIA around the Moon on our Ocula service to do space domain awareness more quickly using AI and SciTec algorithms is a perfect example of that of taking things that work on the ground or lower earth orbit and then deploying it to the Moon because the Moon is the ultimate high ground. So we see more and more deployment of AI on orbit. And in addition, AI is being used across the company to increase productivity. So we see it not only in the products that we provide, but also in the use of how we do work as well.

[Operator Instructions] It comes from the line of Suji Desilva with ROTH Capital.

Congratulations on the progress here. Following up on the Alpha discussions you've had at Space Symposium and others. I'm wondering, given your strong government defense relationships, should we expect the launches in the future to manifest to remain primarily government? Or do you think we'll diversify into civil or commercial? Obviously, there a lot of strong demand from government, but wondering if there will be an effort on your part to diversify that or that's not -- shouldn't be the expectation?

Suji, demand is not the problem with Alpha. We are steadily increasing rate year-to-year because there's so much demand from national security as well as commercial and in terms of civil as well. But what I would say is that a lot of the benefits of the Alpha rocket of being a 1 ton to orbit capability and a 2-ton to suborbital capability as well as having the responsive launch capability like we demonstrated on VICTUS NOX and recently with VICTUS DIEM, that really is very fit for national security purposes. Because if you think about national security purposes, if there was a conflict, especially in the near-peer conflict, one of the things that would be vulnerable are our launch sites. And so we have a deployable alpha capability that we would like to field. And with that capability, you can get resiliency through having a deployed capability in case any of the U.S. launch capabilities are inoperable. We are opening up a launch pad in Sweden, and that is the first time that we're going to take Alpha Global. But with our deployable launch system, we can take it to other places. So having the resiliency tied to the 1 ton capability that is rightsized to counter threats that U.S. adversaries might put into lower earth orbit in addition to the 24-hour response time line that we demonstrated on VICTUS NOX, that's a combination that really supports national security very, very well.

Okay. Great. And then my other question is on Elytra. With the first launch of a lunar satellite and with the second Blue Ghost, I mean, can you remind us the revenue model framework for Elytra, whether you can start revenue with that launch? And does the NVIDIA partnership enhance your pricing or revenue opportunity above and beyond what it was before? Just any color there would be helpful.

Yes. Suji, so that Elytra that's on Blue Ghost Mission 2 is recognized as part of the entire contract. So that Blue Ghost Mission 2, we won it for $130 million. We have a number of commercial payloads on there including a Rover from UAE and a couple of other commercial payloads that are add-ons on top of that. And then the Ocula imaging service is another add-on on top of that as well. So that's all being recognized over time as we discussed on the call.

Great. And Darren, does the NVIDIA partnership enhance your ability to capture revenue in Ocula?

That's definitely part of the Ocula imaging service, but I'll let Jason see if he wants to add anything to that.

Yes, Suji, I think the way to look at this is Ocula on Blue Ghost Mission 2, we're going to be able to experiment and try out different modes. And not only are we going to be able to send the raw data from doing lunar mapping and surveying as well as saving space domain awareness data down to the ground to get processed even more. We're going to be able to demonstrate and experiment with AI on our NVIDIA module that's on the Ocula sensor using SciTec algorithms. So there's going to be a lot of new discovery, and those are the kinds of things that the Department of War as well as NASA are looking for more of. So there's more to come there.

Our last question comes from Liam Baker with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

It's Liam on for Mike today. I wanted to ask more broadly about NASA's lunar plans in building a base on the Moon. What do you think would be the most feasible type of power gen to power the grid for lunar operations? And what type of role could Firefly play in powering the lunar grid?

Well, I'll go back to Blue Ghost Mission 1 when we successfully landed. We performed the 14 days of surface operations, which is the longest of any commercial mission on the surface of the Moon. But we also had an engineering chase proposal to look at operating slightly into the lunar night. So using our in-house batteries, we were able to operate 5 hours into the lunar night and still get -- gather data from that. So one of the things we can do in the future is just add more batteries as we collect solar energy from our solar arrays, and that will allow us to keep heating critical components like avionics and instruments on the lunar lander to last longer into the lunar night. So we can also scale our solar energy as well. So that's something that we've proven with Blue Ghost Mission 1. But there's other opportunities like radioisotope heater units, RHUs. As you remember from the Mars missions, there's also other type of RTGs that can be used. So you could use nuclear powered plants as well. Those are all things that NASA will want to explore more of because the essential things that you need to have a permanent presence on the Moon are things like power and communications and navigation. And those are all things that Firefly envisions to continue to support NASA with.

And then lastly, on Blue Ghost, I guess given NASA's increased appetite for landers versus 3 months ago, how should we think about steady state gross margins once mission cadence ramps up? And I guess, has there been any changes to your view on Blue Ghost margins?

Yes. We haven't -- the only thing that's really changed there is there's been an acceleration in the program. Previously, we were planning to win -- we'll have multiple shots on goal each year, but now that's really accelerated. Our views on gross margin there haven't really changed. We don't really break out the spacecraft gross margin. I mean spacecraft solutions includes Blue Ghost, includes Elytra, also includes our software solutions business.

And this will conclude our Q&A session. I will pass the call back to Michael for closing comments.

Thank you, everyone, for attending today's call. We look forward to speaking with you again when we report our next quarter's financial results. Thanks all.

And this concludes our conference. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.