A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 6:11 p.m. EDT September 14 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station carrying the first mission of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft. Designated NG-23, it is the most capable version of Cygnus to date, loaded with over 11,000 pounds of research and supplies bound for the International Space Station.
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In a significant series of events that underscores the volatile nature of the aerospace and defense sectors, Northrop Grumman, a titan in the industry, has issued “WARN notices” to its employees at Space Park in Redondo Beach, California, signaling potential layoffs in the near future. This move comes amid a series of financial and operational challenges, including a high-profile program cancellation by the U.S. Space Force and cost overruns on a critical NASA project.
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After an end of month rally by SpaceX to get to 10 launches in January, the company will have only one launch this week but it will be a big one. With the retirement of its primary rocket, Northrop Grumman will fly its Cygnus spacecraft on a Falcon 9 this week to the ISS.
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Last week Firefly completed a test fire of its Miranda engine that will be used on its Medium Launch Vehicle and Northrop Grumman‘s Antares 330 rocket. This was a first for the company and a quick one as the company only signed the contract from Northrop just over one year ago.
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In its latest earnings report, Northrop Grumman disclosed an “unfavorable estimate-at-completion adjustment” for the Habitation and Logistics Outpost module for NASA’s Lunar Gateway.
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Northrop Grumman recently completed the final launch of its Cygnus spacecraft on the Antares rocket, marking a temporary hiatus until they return in a few years with an upgraded rocket and Cygnus spacecraft, as announced by the company.
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Yesterday evening, Northrop Grumman successfully launched its final Antares 220+ rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia. The NG-19 mission carried Northrop’s Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station, transporting essential supplies such as food, experiments, and other cargo for the crew.
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Early this morning, Northrop Grumman’s SS Sally Ride Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station carrying 8,200 pounds of supplies for the seven crewmembers. However, the Cygnus is missing one of its now iconic circular solar panels due to an unknown failure.
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Have you ever woken up on a Monday morning and thought to yourself, “yeah, no, I don’t want to do anything,” and then you attempt to get up, and the day doesn’t stop punching? That was today for the space industry. We work up to a new report of Subtropical Storm Nicole making landfall on Florida’s Space Coast (just in time for Artemis 1 to be rolled out to the pad), Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft only having one solar panel deployed, and an absolutely terrible weather forecast for SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 launch.
I guess here’s the deal, Mondays suck not just for the average person but even for the most talented and intelligent people we know. I just got back from SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch on Saturday, and I hopefully plan to drive back down from Wisconsin for Artemis 1 and an airshow this Thursday, both of which could be canceled, so I guess the joke is on me?
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This week Seth and Jared discuss the Artemis I mission as it nears closer and closer to launching. The two also talk about other current events in the space industry and look at the newest images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, we have been following how it will affect Northrop Grumman’s capability to launch its Antares rocket. Northrop Grumman has finally announced its solution to unavailable components in a partnership with Firefly Aerospace to supply engines and a new first stage to the Antares 330 rocket.
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Northrop Grumman announced on February 21 that its subsidiary, SpaceLogistics, received the company’s first purchase of the Mission Extension Pod by Australian satellite operator Optus.
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On Saturday, February 19, Northrop Grumman launched an Antares 230+ rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. The rocket carried a Cygnus spacecraft, S.S. Piers Sellers, which has since joined up with the International Space Station.
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A Northrop Grumman Antares 230+ is set to launch a Cygnus resupply vehicle to the International Space Station on February 19, 2022, at 12:40 p.m. EST. This Cygnus vehicle is named after former astronaut Piers Sellers.
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On Thursday, NASA announced the selected contractors to develop designs for the future commercial space stations to replace the International Space Station.
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NASA announced contract awards to five companies for further development of lunar lander concepts for its Artemis Program on Tuesday.
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Today Northrop Grumman plans to launch their 16th Cygnus spacecraft from Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) for NASA. Today’s mission will see an Antares rocket launch the Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station. It will deliver over 3,000 pounds of food, experiments, and other supplies to the station for its crew to use. The spacecraft will also conduct experiments on its way to and after departing the space station.
Date: Tuesday, August 10th at 6:01 p.m. EDT
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It has been known for a while that Northrop Grumman will be the company tasked with building one of the most important modules on NASA’s Gateway station. It took a while, but now the company has finalized the firm, fixed-priced contract worth $935 million.
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Pegasus XL is an air-launched rocket capable of launching ~443kg to Low Earth Orbit. Northrop Grumman conducted a launch of this vehicle over the weekend on a mission for the Space Force. The satellite was named Odyssey and was designed to be a “Space Domain Awareness” Technology Demonstration.
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Cygnus continues a tradition in naming their spacecraft after people that have made great contributions to the spaceflight industry either as engineers or astronauts. With the upcoming launch slated to take place February 20th, Northrop Grumman named its next mission after the great mathematician Katherine Johnson.
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Back in early October, Northrup Grumman launched a Cygnus spacecraft named after NASA Astronaut Kalpana Chawla on top of an Antares rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia. It carried over 8,000 pounds of supplies to the station and was released today by ground teams.
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Over the next five years, Northrop Grumman will get $70 million dollars to support NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in the Skyrange Program.
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Since 2012 SpaceX and Northrop Grumman (then Orbital ATK) have been providing supplies to the International Space Station. The first CRS contract brought us rockets like the Antares and Falcon 9 and without this funding, neither would exist. Today NASA continues that venture to build up the private space sector with the CRS-2 contract.
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October 1, 2020: Scrubbed two minutes before liftoff due to off nominal data. Next attempt as soon as 24 hours later.
Following Delta IV Heavy and Falcon 9 launch scrubs, a third rocket is scheduled for liftoff from the East Coast of the United States this week. Northrop Grumman will launch its Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo spacecraft from Wallops Island in Virginia between 9:38 and 9:43 p.m. ET tonight.
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