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Firefly Academy, was launched in 2018 by Firefly Aerospace, Inc. and is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) educational opportunities to grade thru high school and college students. Firefly Academy seeks to inspire a passion for aerospace engineering to include hands-on, rocketry focused, educational programs.
With the rapidly developing commercial space industry commonly referred to as the NewSpace industry, demand for aerospace engineers and scientists will increasingly grow over time. This is the new workforce of the future. Our goal is to grow interest in STEM education disciplines and develop a diverse engineering workforce right here in Austin and Central Texas.
Funding university rocket labs and aerospace engineering programs
Providing guidance and expertise to teams of university students who build and launch their own rockets
Funding and coordinating internships for students with NewSpace companies
Increasing interest in STEM education among secondary schools by organizing space modeling competitions and tours of aerospace testing facilities as well as annually granting scholarships to middle school students to attend Space Conferences
Noosphere Ventures is a venture capital fund which invests in NewSpace companies and has multiple STEM education initiatives. Noosphere Ventures is the main investor in Firefly Aerospace and sponsored Firefly Academy’s FIRE 2019 program.
Firefly Aerospace is an Austin based NewSpace company focused on providing affordable and reliable launch vehicles. Firefly Aerospace has provided funding, volunteers, and use of its facilities to Firefly Academy.
The University of Texas at Austin is a world class university located in Austin, Texas. UT’s Aerospace Engineering department, Firefly Academy, and Firefly Aerospace collaborated in creating the Firefly@UT, Texas Rocket Engineering Lab (TREL).