Northrop Grumman invests $50 million in Firefly and new rocket
Northrop Grumman and the rocket startup Firefly announced yesterday that the former has invested $50 million in the latter in order to develop a fully new rocket, dubbed Eclipse, with capabilities allowing it to compete with SpaceX for customers.
“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. “…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.”
Built upon Northrop Grumman’s Antares and Firefly’s Alpha rocket, Eclipse offers a significant leap in power, performance, production cadence, and payload capacity. The launch vehicle retains the flight-proven avionics from the Antares program with additional upgrades, including a larger 5.4 meter payload fairing. Eclipse also utilizes the same first stage Firefly is developing for Antares 330 and retains scaled-up versions of Alpha’s propulsion systems and carbon composite structures, allowing the team to rapidly build and test Eclipse with significant production efficiencies and economies of scale.
The companies say that because of its reliance on already proven launch rockets, they hope Eclipse’s first launch will take place in 2026 from Wallops Island.
As I noted yesterday, the demand for launch services — especially for heavier payloads — presently exceeds the supply, as already established rocket companies ULA and Blue Origin have so far failed to deliver as promised. Rocket Lab is developing its medium-lift Neutron expressly to grab this market. It now appears Northrop Grumman wants a share as well, and is partnering with Firefly to get it.
If all goes as planned this partnership will soon have two rockets to offer customers, the Antares 330 and Eclipse.
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Northrop Grumman and the rocket startup Firefly announced yesterday that the former has invested $50 million in the latter in order to develop a fully new rocket, dubbed Eclipse, with capabilities allowing it to compete with SpaceX for customers.
“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. “…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.”
Built upon Northrop Grumman’s Antares and Firefly’s Alpha rocket, Eclipse offers a significant leap in power, performance, production cadence, and payload capacity. The launch vehicle retains the flight-proven avionics from the Antares program with additional upgrades, including a larger 5.4 meter payload fairing. Eclipse also utilizes the same first stage Firefly is developing for Antares 330 and retains scaled-up versions of Alpha’s propulsion systems and carbon composite structures, allowing the team to rapidly build and test Eclipse with significant production efficiencies and economies of scale.
The companies say that because of its reliance on already proven launch rockets, they hope Eclipse’s first launch will take place in 2026 from Wallops Island.
As I noted yesterday, the demand for launch services — especially for heavier payloads — presently exceeds the supply, as already established rocket companies ULA and Blue Origin have so far failed to deliver as promised. Rocket Lab is developing its medium-lift Neutron expressly to grab this market. It now appears Northrop Grumman wants a share as well, and is partnering with Firefly to get it.
If all goes as planned this partnership will soon have two rockets to offer customers, the Antares 330 and Eclipse.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
More evidence that NorGrum is, in essence, buying Firefly on the installment plan.
Looks that way.
Here is an old book I have that now exists on the web…a great write up on pressure-feds:
http://www.quarkweb.com/foyle/lc-desc/leocheapdesc.html