May 29 (Reuters) - U.S. defense contractor Northrop

Grumman ( NOC ) has invested $50 million into space startup

Firefly Aerospace to aid the production of their jointly

developed rocket, the companies said on Thursday.

The medium launch vehicle, dubbed "Eclipse", is built upon

Northrop Grumman's ( NOC ) Antares and Firefly's Alpha rocket, and is

set to first launch from Wallops Island, Virginia, as early as

2026.

Eclipse is designed to support space station resupply,

commercial spacecraft, critical national security missions and

scientific payloads for domestic and international markets.

Northrop's investment comes as interest in space startups

heats up under U.S. President Donald Trump's efficiency drive,

encouraging more joint projects between big defense contractors

and smaller tech firms.

Firefly gained prominence in the space race after becoming

the second private firm to score a moon landing in a successful

first attempt with its uncrewed Blue Ghost spacecraft earlier

this year.

The Texas-based company was valued at more than $2 billion

in November, when it raised $175 million in a late-stage funding

round. It makes small- and medium-lift launch vehicles for

commercial launches to the earth's orbit.

(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika

Syamnath)