Cedar Park-Based Space Rocket Company Furloughs Workers, Shuts Down After Failed Investment Bid

CEDAR PARK, TX -- The high-flying, fast-growing Cedar Park-based company Firefly Space Systems has been effectively grounded after failing to secure a needed capital infusion -- prompting the layoffs of more than 150 workers on Monday, according to a published report.

AustinInno reports the company has temporarily shut down after one of its primary investors failed to secure money it had previously committed to invest in Firefly Space Systems, according to company co-founder Michael Blum on Monday afternoon.

The failure to get the needed funds commitment prompted the exodus of another investor to pull out of its own funding, which left the company way short of the $100 million it needed to get its satellite delivery rocket, the Firefly Alpha, off the ground and into space, according to the report.

"That really left us in a very difficult spot," Blum said. "We needed that to keep going."

Blum declined to name the investor who pulled out of infusing cash or even discuss general financial details, AustinInno reported.

Apparently, workers had advance notice of the funding dearth. Blum described emotional employees gathered last week to discuss their furloughs. The company, AustinInno reported, has recruited many of its aerospace workers from the University of Texas at Austin. At least half of the workforce has been hired from other parts of the country, according to the report.

For now, the future of Firefly is up in the air, Blum said: "We're not in a position to make any promises to them and they know that. But, hopefully, this is a short-term thing."

Space News reports the investor that pulled out is based in Europe, according to chief executive Thomas Markusic. The company reportedly was in the midst of a Series A funding round, having signed up one of two planned major investors according to the report.

Although the amount of the investment wasn't disclosed, Space News reported that Firefly in June disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it raised almost $19.1 million of a planned round that would've yielded $38.2 million total.

Firefly was founded in 2014 before announcing its move to Cedar Park by the following year.