Firefly Aerospace on Sunday said it had agreed to buy defense analytics firm SciTec for about $855 million in cash and stock, paving the path to its goal of becoming a significant player in the national security market.

Firefly will pay around $300 million in cash and $555 million in new shares, and the deal is expected to close by the end of 2025.

Princeton-based SciTec sells missile-warning and tracking systems, space domain awareness tools, and analytics to defense and intelligence customers. Earlier this year, Space Force awarded the company a $259 million contract to develop a ground system for missile-detection satellites. The company reported annual revenue of $164 million as of the end of June.

The acquisition comes nearly two months after Firefly’s IPO, which valued it at nearl

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