Firefly Lights a New Spark in the IPO Comeback
- Chris Quilty
- Jul 14
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 23
July 14, 2025 - Written by Chris Quilty
On July 11, Firefly Aerospace filed S-1 paperwork with the SEC, becoming the fourth space company seeking to go public in 2025. The announcement, coming just halfway through the year, puts 2025 on track to be the best year for space IPOs since 2021, when 13 companies went public.
To be fair, space IPOs have never quite been a thing. Prior to 2021, the peak year for space IPOs was 2016, when five companies went public (four IPOs, one SPAC), raising $124M. By contrast, the two IPOs completed YTD (Karman and Voyager) raised $625M, with Firefly and iRocket (SPAC) yet to be priced.
This recent burst in IPO activity is both welcome and long overdue, given the hundreds of space startups established over the past decade. Through the first half of this year alone, ~$3B of venture capital has flowed into the space industry, compared to $460M in all of 2016. Those startups will eventually need an exit path via M&A or IPO.
Both markets have been in a three-year drought but have recently shown signs of life. Pitchbook’s 2025 mid-year VC outlook forecasts valuation growth, increased fundraising, and rising distribution yields in the second half of the year.
Equity markets are fickle, but if the IPO window remains open in the second half of the year, we would expect several companies to test the waters, led by the roughly two dozen private companies that have completed large ($100M+), late-stage funding rounds in the past five years. And don’t look now, but a SPAC market rebound could prompt a flurry of IPO activity not seen since the halcyon days of 2021. With less roadkill than last time, we can only hope.