Firefly Aerospace Inc., a U.S. developer of orbital launch vehicles for the small to medium satellite market owned by Ukrainian businessman Maksym Polyakov, has received the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) award from NASA to develop a solar electric transfer stage capable of taking payloads from the Earth to the moon – the Space Utility Vehicle (SUV).

The new SUV will be able to deliver payloads into orbits that are difficult to reach with conventional rockets, the company's press service said on Thursday.

The Firefly Aerospace's SUV will become a link between the Firefly Alpha launch vehicle and the Blue Ghost lunar module, thus creating a complete payload delivery chain from Earth to the lunar surface for NASA missions.

The development and implementation of the Space Utility Vehicle in the Firefly Aerospace space services system is the next logical step and an important link in the payload delivery chain to the Moon. Since Noosphere Ventures are vertically integrated space companies, each of them can operate independently and still provide a full range of services for partners and clients, Polyakov said.

The company said this vehicle serves as a solar electric transfer stage, offering enough Delta-V to transfer more than 500 kg of payload from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to Low Lunar Orbit (LLO) after launch on a small lift launch vehicle, and further services as a communications relay throughout surface mission.

Previously, Firefly Aerospace Inc. was awarded with a contract for $93.3 million to deliver a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon, which is part of NASA's Artemis program, using the Blue Ghost lunar lander.