Northrop Grumman – Page 8 – Spaceflight Now

NASA says JWST won’t be ready for launch in March 2021

June 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope will not happen in March 2021 — the mission’s previously-scheduled launch date — after the coronavirus pandemic forced a more than 50 percent reduction in staff levels at the observatory’s assembly and test facility.

Intelsat, SES buy 10 C-band broadcast satellites from U.S. manufacturers

June 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

Intelsat and SES, operators of the two largest fleets of geostationary communications satellites, have ordered 10 spacecraft from Maxar, Northrop Grumman and Boeing for launches beginning in 2022 to replace C-band capacity being transitioned to 5G cellular network services.

NASA signs Gateway habitat design contract with Northrop Grumman

June 9, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA has signed a $187 million contract with Northrop Grumman to complete the preliminary design of a pressurized crew habitat for the planned Gateway mini-space station near the moon, and agency officials have discussed new details about plans to launch first two Gateway modules on a single heavy-lift rocket.

Cygnus departs space station, beginning extended experimental mission

May 11, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Cygnus supply ship built by Northrop Grumman departed the International Space Station Monday, beginning an extended mission in orbit to deploy a pair of CubeSats and perform a NASA-sponsored fire experiment.

NASA plans to launch first two Gateway elements on same rocket

May 6, 2020 Stephen Clark

Aiming to reduce risk and costs, NASA has decided to launch the first two modules of the Gateway station in lunar orbit on the same heavy-lift rocket in 2023, rather than fly them on separate rockets and dock them together in deep space, according to the the agency’s chief human spaceflight manager.

Companies release new details on human-rated lunar lander concepts

April 30, 2020 Stephen Clark

The next time astronauts land on the moon, they will ride to the lunar surface in a spacecraft that looks a lot different than the Apollo-era landing module last used in 1972. Lander concepts proposed by SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics — which won a combined $967 million in NASA funding Thursday — take wildly different approaches to carrying crews to the moon.

Blue Origin wins lion’s share of NASA funding for human-rated lunar lander

April 30, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA has selected Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX to move forward with development of human-rated lunar landers, committing nearly $1 billion in funding for a range of moonship concepts that include a variant of SpaceX’s next-generation Starship vehicle, officials announced Thursday.

Intelsat satellite resumes operations after docking of robotic servicer

April 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

An Intelsat communications spacecraft running low on fuel has resumed commercial operations more than 22,000 miles over the Atlantic Ocean after getting an assist from a pioneering servicing satellite earlier this year.

NASA narrows design for rocket to launch samples off of Mars

April 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

After years of studies, test-firings and a survey of U.S. industry in preparation for launch of a Mars Sample Return mission in 2026, NASA has settled on a solid-fueled design for a miniature rocket with a first-of-its-kind purpose: Launching a payload from Mars for a trip back to Earth.

Photos: Atlas 5 soars into clear skies over Cape Canaveral

March 31, 2020 Stephen Clark

Propelled by five strap-on solid rocket boosters and a Russian-made kerosene-fueled RD-180 main engine, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on March 26 with the U.S. military’s sixth AEHF communications satellite.