Northrop Grumman Invests in Defense-Focused Space Unicorn

A Texas startup that landed a spacecraft on the moon in March is deepening its ties with Northrop Grumman Corp. to develop a rocket capable of competing against Elon Musk’s SpaceX for some US Department of Defense missions.

Northrop Grumman has invested $50 million into Firefly Aerospace Inc., the two companies told Bloomberg Thursday. The money will be used for the Eclipse, a co-developed rocket in the works since 2022 that’s built upon Northrop Grumman’s Antares and Firefly’s Alpha rockets.

The new rocket should “fill this void we see in the industry” as more operators seek access to ...