Tag: Northrop Grumman
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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…
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Northrop Grumman likely to end its bid for a commercial space station
Nearly two years ago, NASA placed its bets to develop commercial space stations on four companies—Blue Origin, Nanoracks, Northrop Grumman, and Axiom Space. Now, as the US space agency looks to find a successor to the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit, this landscape is shifting dramatically. At the International Astronautical Congress meeting this week…
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Northrop Grumman and Firefly’s Antares 330 and MLV plans take shape
As the Cygnus S.S. Laurel Clark spends its first days berthed to the ISS, the successor to the Antares 230+ launch vehicle that launched it is taking shape in the facilities of Northrop Grumman (NG) and Firefly Aerospace. The Antares 330/Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV), scheduled for its first flight in mid-2025, is being developed to…
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A flawless Cygnus launch brings eras to a close
WALLOPS ISLAND, Va.—I had been told that rocket launches are a physical experience, that the carefully controlled explosions that send payloads to space create waves of sound intense enough to be felt from over a mile away. But my first close-up experience with a launch involved the relatively small Electron rocket, and that left me…
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End of the line for Russia and Ukraine’s partnership in rocketry
A last gasp in a long-standing link between Russia and Ukraine in the field of rocketry could come this week in an unlikely place—the rural wetlands of eastern Virginia—halfway around the world from the battlefields where the nations’ military forces are locked in a deadly conflict. A commercial Antares rocket owned by the US aerospace…
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Antares 230+ farewell launch flying S.S. Laurel Clark to ISS
The final flight of the Antares 230+ launch vehicle, marking the end of the career of Northrop Grumman’s Antares 200 series of rockets, lifted off Tuesday with the NG-19 mission under the Commercial Resupply Services cargo contract to supply the International Space Station. The Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) NG-19 flight launched from LP-0A at the…
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Viasat’s new broadband satellite could be a total loss
A new Viasat communications satellite launched in April has been crippled by a problem when unfurling its huge mesh antenna. The problem jeopardizes Viasat’s much-needed refresh to its space-based Internet network that would let it better compete with newer broadband offerings from companies like SpaceX and OneWeb. Viasat confirmed the antenna problem Wednesday after it…
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SpaceX, Blue Origin, others highlighted in new NASA low-Earth orbit partnerships
On June 15, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced its intention to partner with seven U.S. aerospace companies in order to advance human spaceflight and the commercial low-Earth orbit economy. The agency stated in a press release that these partnerships — done through the second Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities-2 initiative (CCSC-2) along…