Tag: Northrop Grumman
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SpaceX Launches First 21 Northrop Grumman Satellites for SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer
On Saturday, October 10, 2026, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 3:39 a.m. Eastern, successfully deploying 21 Northrop Grumman satellites into low Earth orbit. Designated as the Tranche 1 Transport Layer A (T1TL-A) mission, the launch marks the initial orbital deployment of Northrop Grumman spacecraft…
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Cygnus XL Departs International Space Station for Destructive Re-Entry
The departure marks the end of a mission that began earlier this year. Cygnus XL launched April 11 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It was installed on the station’s Unity module on April 13 after being maneuvered into position by the…
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Northrop Grumman Delivers 21 Transport Layer Satellites to Vandenberg for Space Force Constellation
The Transport Layer is designed to include hundreds of Low-Earth Orbit satellites to speed secure military communications. Together with the Tracking Layer for missile deterrence, it forms the two major components of SDA’s future Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. Tranche 1 of the Transport Layer is to have 126 satellites, split evenly among three prime contractors:…
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This is the world’s most advanced robotic servicing satellite—that we know about
A spacecraft fitted with two flexible robotic arms is on the way to geosynchronous orbit after launching earlier this week on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, kicking off a planned decade-long mission to open new frontiers in satellite servicing. The Mission Robotic Vehicle, owned and built by Northrop Grumman, rocketed into orbit from Cape Canaveral…
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Northrop Grumman Launches Robotic Servicing Vehicle Toward Geosynchronous Orbit
The Mission Robotic Vehicle carries the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites payload, a pair of robotic arms with an array of tool attachments developed at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory with financial backing from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Following deployment, the vehicle and its pods will spend a year traveling out to geosynchronous…
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South Korea Commits 40B Won to OTV Race Already Underway
Is South Korea Too Late to the Orbital Transfer Vehicle Market? South Korea’s government is committing 40 billion won to develop and demonstrate a flight-model orbital transfer vehicle by 2029 — entering a space logistics race that Impulse Space, D-Orbit, and Rocket Lab USA have been running for years. The Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) is…
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Katalyst LINK Launches to Reboost NASA Swift Observatory
Is NASA’s Swift Observatory About to Be Saved by a $30M On-Orbit Servicing Mission? Katalyst Space’s LINK on-orbit servicing spacecraft lifted off at 4:26 a.m. EDT on July 4, 2026, aboard Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket, targeting NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory with a mandate to push the aging gamma-ray telescope into a higher, stable…
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NASA’s $30M Swift Rescue Launches on Pegasus XL’s Final Flight
Can NASA’s $30M LINK Satellite Really Save the Swift Observatory? At 4:36 a.m. EDT on July 3, 2026, a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket completed its 45th — and final — mission, air-launching Katalyst Space Technologies’ LINK satellite from the L-1011 Stargazer carrier aircraft above the Marshall Islands. The target: NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory,…
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Pegasus Rocket to Launch Mission to Extend NASA Swift Observatory’s Orbit
A Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket is scheduled to launch a robotic servicing spacecraft this weekend on a mission to extend the operational life of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory by boosting it into a higher orbit. The mission will carry Katalyst Space’s LINK servicing spacecraft, which is designed to rendezvous with the Swift Observatory…
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Katalyst Space Raises $12 Million to Advance GEO Satellite Servicing Vehicle
Katalyst Space has secured $12 million in new funding to support the development of its first geostationary orbit (GEO)-capable robotic servicing spacecraft, NEXUS, which is scheduled to launch aboard an Arianespace Ariane 6 rocket in 2027. The funding round was led by Geodesic Capital, with participation from Fortitude Ventures and several undisclosed investors. The capital…