Firefly Aerospace soared in its public market debut Thursday, beginning trading at $70, over 55% higher than its IPO price. The Cedar Park-based company secured a $9.8 billion valuation.

Firefly Aerospace shares fell 9% in premarket trading on Friday, in what was perceived as a normal market swing, but the space tech firm's robust debut highlighted renewed investor appetite for high-growth listings.

Firefly Aerospace's ( FLY) primary revenue stream comes from launching small-to-medium payloads to low Earth orbit on the Alpha rocket at a fee of roughly $15 million per launch. The Texas-based company is looking to fill a market gap for dedicated launches of payloads too large for small rockets but not economical for heavy-lift providers.