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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Businesses that employ Texans and support the |
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state's economy are important components of a prosperous future, |
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and Firefly Aerospace has made significant contributions to the |
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Central Texas community and the space industry; and |
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WHEREAS, Headquartered in Cedar Park, Firefly Aerospace was |
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founded with the mission to build launch and orbital vehicles and |
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lunar landers that can be operated anywhere; the company utilizes |
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carbon composite structures, patented propulsion technologies, and |
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common components for its vehicles to iterate quickly, improve |
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reliability, and deliver payloads at a lower cost; the organization |
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also encompasses a production and test site in Briggs, and since its |
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founding in 2017, it has invested more than $500 million in the area |
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by building infrastructure, creating jobs, and furthering |
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innovation and manufacturing; and |
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WHEREAS, To date, Firefly Aerospace has completed over 1,700 |
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rocket engine tests and has developed four vehicle lines offering |
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launch, land, and orbit services; in March 2025, the company's Blue |
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Ghost lunar lander performed the first successful commercial moon |
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landing; in addition to capturing high-definition imagery of a |
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total solar eclipse on March 14, 2025, the lander completed more |
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than 14 days of surface operations, which is the longest continuous |
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commercial lunar operation in history, and allowed for NASA to |
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perform a variety of scientific investigations; the group's annual |
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lunar missions will continue to enable science and technology |
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experiments that support future exploration to the moon, Mars, and |
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beyond; and |
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WHEREAS, Today, Firefly Aerospace employs more than 700 |
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people, and it benefits from the able leadership of chief executive |
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officer Jason Kim, chief financial officer Darren Ma, chief |
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technology officer Shea Ferring, and chief operating officer Dan |
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Fermon; the company supports local FIRST robotics groups and the |
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rocket engineering laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin |
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by supplying mentors, performing design reviews, and offering |
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opportunities to test student hardware and other STEM outreach |
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activities; and |
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WHEREAS, Providing jobs to the region and advancing space |
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exploration, Firefly Aerospace is a Lone Star State success story, |
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and the company is indeed deserving of special recognition for its |
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many achievements; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 89th Texas |
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Legislature hereby commend Firefly Aerospace for its contributions |
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to Texas and extend to all those involved with the organization |
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sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for the organization as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas House of Representatives. |