Northrop Grumman Brings Launch Heritage to Eclipse™ Launch Vehicle

Leading the Way with Innovative Collaborations

Eclipse rocket launching into dark blue skies

By Rachel Ellis

Over the past several years, space launch has evolved rapidly, moving with more speed and agility than ever before to deliver effective, reliable results for customers — and Northrop Grumman is leading the way with innovative collaborations.

As a longtime provider of space launch services, Northrop Grumman is working hand-in-hand with Firefly Aerospace to upgrade Northrop Grumman’s Antares 230+ rocket to Antares 330 (A330) and co-developing the new Eclipse medium class launch vehicle.

Together, the companies are applying their decades of combined launch expertise and innovative manufacturing capabilities to bring the Eclipse launch vehicle into operational service. The 59-meter-long vehicle will expand access to space for the global space industry, making next-generation exploration more feasible and affordable and enabling future national security, civil, commercial and international space missions.

“When you start mixing what both companies do best together, it truly forms an ideal, one-of-a-kind team,” said Andrew Hill, program manager for Eclipse and A330 at Northrop Grumman.

By bringing a very capable medium-class launcher to the national security space market, it's going to give the Department of Defense the competition it's been looking for.

— Kurt Eberly

Space Launch Director, Northrop Grumman

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Distinguished Experience

Northrop Grumman is leading the charge on launch vehicle licensing, developing the fairings and accommodations for the encapsulated payload, designing and testing all the avionics, software, and guidance algorithms, and will work with Firefly to ensure everything is integrated properly on the launch vehicle.

Eclipse is an evolutionary successor to Northrop Grumman’s Antares launch vehicle, offering a significant leap in power, performance, and payload capacity.

“Northrop Grumman brings the avionics technology, mission integration expertise, deep government relationship knowledge, and legacy launch capabilities that are key to overall mission success,” Hill said. “Firefly is using its propulsion technology and carbon composite structures to not only get the Eclipse launch vehicle to space with speed and scalability but also efficiently and cost effectively.”

Eclipse retains many flight-proven systems from the Antares program with additional upgrades, including a more powerful vacuum-optimized liquid second stage and a 5.4 meter fairing with an industry-standard 4.6-meter-diameter payload envelope that’s customizable to support specific customer requirements.

The Eclipse launch vehicle also uses technologies from Firefly’s Alpha launch vehicle, including patented tap-off cycle propulsion technology and carbon composite structures, to reduce mass and costs while improving strength and reliability.

Made in America

To date, Northrop Grumman has flown 18 Antares missions. Previously, the Antares 230+ first stage was sourced internationally. Antares 330 and the Eclipse rocket will now have a fully domestic first stage built by Firefly in Texas. Antares 330 will continue to use the solid rocket motor Castor 30XL second stage developed by Northrop Grumman, but the Eclipse rocket will use a brand new, liquid engine second stage also developed by Firefly. These developments ensure that both the Antares 330 and the Eclipse launch vehicle are fully American-made rockets.

Eclipse will allow Northrop Grumman and Firefly to fill a void in the underserved medium-class launch market.

Kurt Eberly, space launch director at Northrop Grumman, said tapping into this area of space launch with an American-made rocket is critical for the nation’s short- and long-term defense strategy.

“By bringing a very capable medium-class launcher to the national security space market, it’s going to give the Department of Defense the competition it’s been looking for,” Eberly said.

Giving the government more launch options will also lead to increased resiliency and heightened security for the U.S. and its allies. “Ideally, we will ultimately have multiple launch vehicles, flying from multiple launch pads across the country, and preferably, at several different launch ranges,” said Eberly.

Beyond supporting the national security space launch market, Eclipse will provide launch services for civil and commercial space customers.

“Eclipse is a natural fit to launch space station resupply missions in addition to constellations in LEO, MEO, GEO, and TLI,” said Adam Oakes, vice president of launch at Firefly Aerospace. “We’re looking forward to filling a void in the industry with a rocket that serves the unique needs of the medium lift launch market and provides competitive pricing directly to customers’ preferred orbits. This allows customers to maximize their opportunity cost by getting their operations up and running sooner.”

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Launching Into the Future

Both A330 and Eclipse will first launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. This can help ease some of the bottlenecks customers see at other launch sites in the United States.

Northrop Grumman and Firefly, along with NASA and the Virginia Spaceport Authority, are making updates to MARS Pad 0A to ensure it has the infrastructure to support both Antares 330 and Eclipse. Modifications were needed to ensure that the launch mount and flame deflector could handle the higher thrust from the 7 first stage Miranda engines that Firefly is developing.

Marty Estep, Antares program operations manager at Northrop Grumman, said the company has experience launching larger vehicles from Wallops and is leveraging its relationship with the launch range — as well as its keen attentiveness to range safety and procedures — in the Firefly collaboration.

“Over the years, we have seen Wallops grow and evolve to meet increasing launch demands,” Estep said. “Northrop Grumman and Firefly are helping to drive that transformation. It’s truly been a team effort across the board.”

Later, there are plans to expand Eclipse’s launch capabilities to the Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in Santa Barbara County, California.

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When you start mixing what both companies do best together, it truly forms an ideal, one-of-a-kind team.

— Andrew Hill

Program Manager for Eclipse and A330 at Northrop Grumman

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The Dream Team

Northrop Grumman has over 40 years of successful launch experience, totaling over 500 launches, which have taken place at about 35 launch sites globally. Of these launches, there have been about 65 booster configurations, with more under contract, contributing to the company’s diverse launch portfolio.

Firefly, meanwhile, has the expertise to manage the dynamic, and often complex, liquid propulsion engines that both Antares 330 and Eclipse rely on.

“As soon as you involve liquid propellant, there are more variables at play,” said Adam Lewis, mission manager at Northrop Grumman. “This is because of the robust, cryogenic environment that is necessary to ensure the propulsive elements are maintained properly. From super cooling the liquid oxygen, and the pressurized gases and other commodities that will be loaded onto the vehicle during the countdown to launch — it gets complex very quickly.”

Firefly is proud of the company’s ability to provide reliable, affordable liquid propulsion systems and lightweight carbon composite structures for the Eclipse rocket while working closely with Northrop Grumman to push the boundaries of innovative space technology.

With both companies approaching the project as a collaborative effort bonded by a desire to advance space launch for the ever-evolving customer needs of today and tomorrow, Hill said it’s been extremely rewarding to be part of the team-oriented dynamic over the past few years.

“We have embraced each other as a combined team and have genuinely enjoyed working together. We also appreciate the relationship and respect one another. The Eclipse launch vehicle is a success story of a big prime and commercial new entrant leveraging each other's strengths to achieve the same goal – expand access to space.”