Yes, you read that right. No, that’s not a typo.

Earlier, I described to you the new direction we’re taking this little project, and this is part of it. It is often said that “space is hard,” but as is often the case, the truth of the matter depends on how one defines terms. Sailing the black is indeed prohibitively difficult, but where most would distribute that difficulty disproportionately in favor of governments and corporations, I would spread it out more evenly. Space is hard, not to the point of impossibility, but to the degree that doing something amazing requires concerted effort and perseverance.

There have been a lot of people and teams in recent years showing just that sort of dogged determination, folks who don’t get a great deal of attention in the media, despite the fact that they are absolutely doing the impossible (and that makes them mighty). These are stories that need to be told — and stories that we all need to hear right now.

One such unsung hero are the men and women of Firefly Aerospace in Austin, Texas, USA, whose curious history mirrors that of its sci-fi-western namesake — both for good and for ill.