0
Total Launches
0
Successful
0%
Success Rate
0
Consec. Success
The Story
Northrop Grumman is not a flashy company, but it underpins more of the world's space infrastructure than almost any organisation alive. The Antares rocket has delivered Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the ISS on dozens of missions. Its solid rocket motors — including the largest in the world — power the SLS that will carry ...
In short
“Every SLS launch carries Northrop Grumman solid rocket boosters. Every JWST image exists partly because Northrop Grumman engineers spent years folding a tennis-court-sized sunshield into a rocket fairing.”
Northrop Grumman's solid rocket boosters generate 3.6 million pounds of thrust each on SLS
Cygnus has delivered over 80,000 kg of cargo to the ISS across more than 15 missions
The company employs over 90,000 people globally across aerospace and defence
Northrop Grumman built the radar that detected Sputnik for the US government in 1957
Milestones
1990
Hubble contribution
Contributes structural components to the Hubble Space Telescope
2011
Orbital Sciences acquired
Gains the Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft
2013
First Cygnus mission
First Cygnus cargo mission to the ISS under Commercial Resupply Services
2018
Innovation Systems acquired
Consolidates space manufacturing as Northrop Grumman Space Systems
2021
JWST sunshield delivered
Delivers James Webb Space Telescope sunshield assembly to launch site
2022
Artemis I
SLS first launch carries Northrop Grumman solid rocket boosters
Key People
What's Next
The road ahead for Northrop Grumman Space Systems
Northrop Grumman is developing the Next Generation Interceptor for missile defence, a lunar Gateway habitation module for NASA's Artemis programme, and a replacement for Antares using domestic engines following the severance of its Russian RD-181 supply chain after 2022.