Firefly Aerospace stock rises on Starcloud AI computing deal

Investing.com -- Firefly Aerospace Inc (NASDAQ: FLY) shares climbed 5.3% Wednesday after the company announced a commercial payload agreement with Starcloud to demonstrate AI computing capabilities in lunar orbit.

Starcloud's SC-1L computing payload will fly aboard Firefly's Elytra orbital vehicle to validate capabilities for a future data center around the Moon. The payload will ingest data from Firefly's onboard Solux vision system, perform AI computing on orbit, and transmit processed data back to Earth.

The demonstration is scheduled for Firefly's third lunar mission, targeted to launch no earlier than 2028. Firefly's Elytra orbiter will first serve as the transfer vehicle and communications relay for the company's Blue Ghost lander, which will land on the Moon's Gruithuisen Domes as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. Following that mission, Elytra will remain in lunar orbit for five years to enable customer payload and imaging operations.

"We're proud to collaborate with innovative customers like Starcloud and collectively take another step toward establishing the infrastructure that will power a permanent human and robotic presence at the Moon," said Ray Allensworth, Vice President of Spacecraft at Firefly Aerospace.

Starcloud previously completed an AI computing demonstration in low Earth orbit and is now extending those capabilities to lunar orbit. The company's CTO Ezra Feilden said the demonstration will prove the ability to process massive volumes of data where it is generated to support growing infrastructure beyond Earth.

This will be the second Elytra vehicle Firefly deploys to lunar orbit, following the launch of Blue Ghost Mission 2 targeted for no earlier than 2027. Each Elytra vehicle is designed to remain in lunar orbit for up to five years.

Firefly recently announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to process data on orbit for its Ocula lunar imaging service, which provides lunar surface mapping, mineral detection, and reconnaissance.

Original Article

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