Pursuing the Impossible: The New Space Race with Firefly Aerospace Co-Founder Eric Salwan

Many companies set out to do something hard. Firefly Aerospace set out to do the impossible.

After 10 years and several existential moments, Firefly did what no private company ever had: in 2025, it successfully landed on the Moon. Before Firefly, only countries had ever landed on the Moon—and it took extraordinary national effort to do it. At its peak, the Apollo program consumed nearly 5% of the U.S. federal budget, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people and vast government resources. What was once only possible for superpowers is now being done by a private company. In the wake of that breakthrough, Firefly went public on the Nasdaq in the largest aerospace and defense IPO in history, reaching a valuation of roughly $8.5 billion.

Welcome to Tuesdays with Morrisey. In the latest episode, host Adam Morrisey sits down with Eric Salwan, co-founder of Firefly Aerospace, to unpack the company’s improbable journey—from near-collapse to becoming the first commercial company to successfully land on the Moon. Together, they discuss the Firefly journey, the new space race, and Eric’s perspective on the power of pursuing the impossible.

Top Takeaways

• The Firefly journey was part of Eric’s spiritual path. Firefly launched in 2014, ran out of money in 2016, and shut down. Eric had invested his own money, brought in family and friends as investors, and had to lay off the entire team. On New Year’s Day 2017, with no company and no clear path forward, he made the decision that he would not leave until someone physically removed him from the building. Firefly Aerospace relaunched on May 1, 2017, with 20 employees.
• There is power in relentlessly sharing the vision, even with people who have no immediate way to help. When Firefly needed capital at its most desperate moment, two of Eric’s friends went to their networks and raised $170 million of a $175 million round. None of those investors knew Eric personally, but they trusted the people who made the introduction.
• People underestimate the personal cost of being a founder. Eric didn’t take a real vacation for nearly eight years. Firefly shut down once, had a rocket explode on the launch pad, watched tens of millions of dollars of work burn in a field during a test fire, and had to lay off 160 people who trusted the leadership to find a way forward. The Firefly story is incredible from the outside, but the lived experience was not always glamorous.
• We are in the very early innings of the new space race, and the stakes are high. Eric walked through the key players, the orbital markets being created, and how competition between the U.S. and China continues to grow. His framing: when the first ships landed in America, no one could have predicted what would be built there 250 years later. Space is the next frontier.

Full List of Topics Covered

• Eric’s background and how he came to co-found Firefly Aerospace.
• The original founding of Firefly in 2014, the shutdown in 2016, and the decision to restart.
• The capital requirements of building a rocket company.
• NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and how government contracts seeded the commercial space economy.
• The personal toll of the founder journey, including layoffs, rocket failures, and years without a real vacation.
• How Firefly became the first commercial company in history to successfully land on the Moon.
• What the lunar landing felt like in the room when it happened.
• How to think about the new space race and the roles of SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Firefly, and others.
• Big power competition and the militarization of cislunar space between the U.S. and China.
• Lessons Eric would share with students and young entrepreneurs.
• The Firefly documentary coming to Amazon Prime.

Eric Salwan is an entrepreneur and new space advocate who played a foundational role in building Firefly Aerospace into a leading player in the commercial space industry. Originally an early investor, Salwan later joined the company operationally, helping guide it through bankruptcy, restructuring, and eventual public listing. Under his leadership alongside founder Tom Markusic, Firefly achieved a historic milestone as the first private company to successfully land on the Moon. His background spans IT, startup operations, and venture building, with a reputation for resilience and long-term vision in high-risk industries.

Article written by MarketScale.