Ukrainian Maksym Polyakov sold his stake in Firefly Aerospace for a dollar

Ukrainian Maksym Polyakov, who founded the aerospace company Firefly Aerospace, sold his stake in the company.

Militarnyi informs with reference to the statement of Maksym Polyakov on social networks.

He sold his own stake in the company for a symbolic one US dollar. This was led to the demand of the U.S. government.

“I’m giving away my 58% stake in Firefly Aerospace for $1 to co-founder and partner Tom. Dear US Committee on Foreign Investment, the US Air Force and 23 other US agencies that betrayed me and condemned me for my actions in the last 15 months – I hope you are happy. History will judge all of you guys. Yes, I have Ukrainian passport and I am founder of Firefly! Bye my “bird” and at the end of the days I proud what I done for my Land soul and heritage!” Maksym Polyakov wrote.

Firefly Aerospace is a private aerospace company created on the basis of Firefly Space Systems, which was bought and restarted in 2017 by Ukrainian entrepreneur and founder of Noosphere Ventures Maksym Polyakov.

The company develops launch vehicles for commercial launches to orbit.

U.S. requirements

At the end of November Polyakov received a letter from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States on concerns about national security.

U.S. government and aerospace officials have opposed Polyakov’s control over Firefly Aerospace because of concern that valuable technology could make its way to Ukraine, Russia or other countries trying to develop rocket programs.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) demanded that Polyakov and his investment company Noosphere Venture Partners sell about half of Firefly stakes.

According to Bloomberg the U.S. government has suspended Firefly rocket launch operations from the Vandenberg base while the issue of Polyakov’s stake is being resolved.

The Ukrainian businessman, who saved Firefly from bankruptcy in 2017 and poured his money into the company in order to revive it, did not agree with US concerns.

As reported earlier, in September 2021, the Alpha rocket of Firefly Aerospace exploded during the first orbital flight attempt.