India, May 29 -- Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC), Thursday announced that it has committed $50 million to Firefly Aerospace to accelerate production of their jointly developed medium class launch vehicle, Eclipse. Qualification testing is underway, and over 60 hot-fire tests of the Eclipse's Miranda engine have been completed.
Building on Northrop's Antares and Firefly's Alpha heritage, Eclipse combines proven avionics with a 5.4-meter payload fairing, carbon-composite structures, and scaled-up propulsion. It can deliver 16,300 kg to low Earth orbit or 3,200 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit, meeting needs in national security, commercial constellations, and station resupply.
Both companies aim to leverage production synergies and economie...