Northrop Grumman invests $50 Million in Firefly Aerospace to advance Eclipse rocket
CEDAR PARK, Texas - Northrop Grumman in Falls Church, Va., has invested $50 million in Cedar Park, Texas' Firefly Aerospace to support the development of their jointly built medium-lift launch vehicle, now officially named Eclipse, the companies announced.
The funding strengthens an ongoing partnership between the aerospace firms, which includes development of the Antares 330 rocket and the new Eclipse vehicle. Qualification testing is underway, and more than 60 hot fire tests have been completed on the rocket’s Miranda engine.
"Firefly is incredibly grateful for Northrop Grumman’s investment that further solidifies our first-of-its-kind partnership to build the first stage of Antares 330 and jointly develop Eclipse," said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. "Eclipse represents two powerful forces coming together to transform the launch market with decades of flight heritage, a rapid, iterative approach, and bold innovation. With a 16 metric ton to orbit capability, Eclipse is a sweet spot for programs like NSSL Lane 1 and a natural fit to launch proliferated constellations in LEO, MEO, GEO, and TLI."
Eclipse incorporates technology from Northrop’s Antares and Firefly’s Alpha rockets, using flight-proven avionics, carbon composite structures, and upgraded propulsion systems. The vehicle features a larger 5.4-meter payload fairing and uses the same first-stage architecture Firefly is building for Antares 330.
Firefly’s propulsion system draws from its Alpha rocket’s Reaver and Lightning engines, using a tap-off cycle design. A Miranda engine recently completed a 206-second hot fire test, matching the expected flight duration.
"Eclipse gives customers the right balance between payload capacity and affordability," said Wendy Williams, vice president at Northrop Grumman.
Designed to lift 16,300 kilograms to low Earth orbit and 3,200 kilograms to geosynchronous transfer orbit, Eclipse aims to serve government and commercial markets. Its first launch is targeted for 2026 from Wallops Island, Va.
