Alex Hughes

My role at Firefly Aerospace

After graduating from George Mason University, I had two requirements when searching for jobs. First, the company had to be a startup. Second, they had to be building something awesome. Firefly fit both those requirements perfectly, and I moved my life to Austin, Texas only 2 months after graduating.

I started as a regular design engineer in our 'Design and Analysis' department, designing components for everything from our Blue Ghost Lunar Lander, to our Alpha launch vehicle. I quickly fell in love with Propulsion Design, working on our "Reaver" Main Engines. My goal was to become the CAD Lead of our next rocket's (called Beta) main engine program. I transferred to the Propsulsion department in the Winter of 2021.

After several months as a Design Engineer on Reaver, Firefly spun up their larger MLV program. I became the CAD Lead of the first stage main engines, called Miranda, in June of 2022. This is the role I currently play at Firefly, and each day is filled with exciting designs and new challenges.