Tag: Northrop Grumman
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Initial Gateway elements beginning systems integration while NASA works on a launch date
The two elements that will make up the initial Gateway capability for NASA’s Artemis campaign are getting ready for systems installations this year and next year, as the space agency reviews progress to set a new launch date. The Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and Habitation and Logistics Module (HALO) are being constructed on different…
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SpaceX and Northrop are working on a constellation of spy satellites
SpaceX is reportedly working with at least one major US defense contractor, Northrop Grumman, on a constellation of spy satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office. According to Reuters, development of the network of hundreds of spy satellites by SpaceX is being coordinated with multiple contractors to avoid putting too much control of a highly sensitive…
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ISS Roundup: Cygnus NG-20, Axiom Mission 3, and Progress MS-26
This month, the International Space Station (ISS) has seen a flurry of activity, from experiments to vehicle arrivals and departures. Multiple resupply missions by Cygnus and Progress have kept the crew of Expedition 70 healthy onboard the Station. Meanwhile, a private mission from Axiom headed back to Earth with the first-ever all-European commercial crew, and…
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Firefly Aerospace doubles Texas footprint to support testing of Antares 330, MLV rocket
Firefly’s new MLV manufacturing and integration building in Bertram, Texas. Image: Firefly Aerospace In the months following its fourth flight of it Alpha rocket, Firefly Aerospace continues to push forward with work on two new rockets in partnership with Northrop Grumman. On Wednesday, Firefly is set to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking a manufacturing expansion…
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SpaceX launches military satellites tuned to track hypersonic missiles
Two prototype satellites for the Missile Defense Agency and four missile-tracking satellites for the US Space Force rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Wednesday from Florida’s Space Coast. These satellites are part of a new generation of spacecraft designed to track hypersonic missiles launched by China or Russia and perhaps emerging missile threats…
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Rocket Report: SpaceX at the service of a rival; Endeavour goes vertical
Welcome to Edition 6.29 of the Rocket Report! Right now, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is the only US launch vehicle offering crew or cargo service to the International Space Station. The previous version of Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket retired last year, forcing that company to sign a contract with SpaceX to launch its Cygnus supply…
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SpaceX launches Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft on its way to the Space Station
SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft onboard. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now SpaceX completed its second mission bound for the International Space Station this month. But unlike all previous missions targeting the orbiting outpost, this flight didn’t feature a Dragon spacecraft. At 12:07 p.m. EST (1707 UTC) SpaceX launched a…
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CRS NG-20 launches cargo, science to ISS aboard Falcon 9
The NG-20 mission has flown the Cygnus spacecraft S.S. Patricia Hilliard Robertson to a path that will take it to the International Space Station. However, as a first, it has launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 instead of an Antares rocket. This will be the first of three Cygnus missions to fly aboard Falcon 9…
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Launch Roundup: Northrop Grumman prepare the first Cygnus to fly on Falcon 9
Recent challenges with weather concerns and the movement of key flights such as USSF-52 and Axiom-3 have impacted Falcon 9 launch dates, not least Starlink Group 7-11 which scrubbed three times and finally launched on Tuesday, albeit with problems on the launch livestream. SpaceX had two drone ships and the two fairing recovery ships in…
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Northrop Grumman leaves behind solo commercial space station venture, partners with Nanoracks on ‘Starlab’
A rendering of the Nanoracks/Voyager Space commercial space station orbiting the Earth. Image: Nanoracks About a year and a half after signing a Space Act Agreement with NASA to develop a commercial space station, Northrop Grumman formally withdrew from its solo plans in order to partner with Nanoracks, a subsidiary of Voyager Space. Under this…