Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) has invested $50 million in privately held Firefly Aerospace to accelerate the development of a new rocket named “Eclipse.” This initiative comes as Northrop grapples with the inability to utilize its Antares rocket to perform Commercial Resupply Services to the International Space Station due to the U.S. ban on Russian rocket engines following the invasion of Ukraine. Development of Eclipse aims for a first launch date as early as 2026 from Wallops Island, Virginia.
The Eclipse rocket will feature a 5.4-meter payload fairing and a capacity to carry 16 tons to Low Earth Orbit. This represents a substantial increase over the previous Antares version, which could only carry 8 tons. Northrop and Firefly hope to deploy Eclipse for various government and commercial missions, including National Security Space Launch missions for the Space Force.
Firefly, currently valued at approximately $2 billion and with annual revenue estimates ranging from $159 million to $750 million, is developing new engines and a Medium Launch Vehicle with Northrop as part of this collaboration.
