Imagine that: laying on your back in a vehicle that’s going to land on the moon. I kept thinking, “I have to be part of this!”
Lessons from Dawn
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Imagine that: laying on your back in a vehicle that’s going to land on the moon. I kept thinking, “I have to be part of this!”
By Leigh McLeod Why go big when you can go small? For Radio Frequency (RF) Engineer Tim, that’s his modus operandi. Tim joined Northrop Grumman in May 2021 to work on a classified program in Aurora, Colorado, but quickly realized he missed working on RF, which he’d spent most of his career on. When he [...]Read More...
On 7th and 8th September at Space-Comm Expo, we’ll be joining over 100 exhibitors from across the world at the Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre. Robert Hauge, President, SpaceLogistics LLC, a Northrop Grumman company will be talking about satellite life extension and resiliency in geostationary orbit at the event. The Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1), [...]Read More...
Northrop Grumman’s LGM-35A Sentinel program for the U.S. Air Force is the weapon system replacement for the aging LGM-30 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system.
For over a decade, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft has made life in space sustainable for the crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) through resupply missions. With its 27 cubic meters of pressurized cargo space — slightly smaller than the volume of a 20-foot U-Haul truck — Cygnus is a multipurpose workhorse, enabling trailblazing science to occur 250 miles above Earth.
Northrop Grumman and FireFly are co-developing a new medium launch vehicle that combines the best flight-proven technologies, systems, and mission experience from both companies to fill a void in the underserved medium-lift market.
Northrop Grumman’s Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System (GMD) is the heart of the Missile Defense System and a key element of our nation's defense against ballistic missile attacks.
Northrop Grumman is leading in the effort to explore and prove out emerging space-based communications and missile tracking architectures.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, Jim Jones, a Northrop Grumman technical fellow based in Nebraska, had been modeling the ionosphere for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program, focused on producing a next-generation battlefield radio for U.S. service members who direct close air support for ground forces.
A static test safely ignites solid rocket motors to gather critical data to ensure the motor meets design requirements for the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM.
When engineer Matt Hobbs first saw BB-8 — the ball-shaped droid from "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" — he was impressed by the CGI. It wasn’t until Matt attended a Star Wars fan event and saw a robotic version of BB-8 rolling onstage that he started thinking about how he could engineer something similar.
Northrop Grumman SYNOPTICS is the world's leading manufacturer of synthetic crystals and optical components used primarily in the solid-state laser industry.
As one of the key flight controllers on the NG-15 mission that sent the S.S. Katherine Johnson Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station in February 2021, I had what you could call a full-circle moment.
In Northrop Grumman Systems Engineer Tejas’ closet, two sides stand out: bright athleisure and clothes for work on one side, and fatigues and combat boots on the other.
If you would have told me when I was a young boy growing up on a Colorado dairy farm that I would get the opportunity to design, build and test rocket motors for a living, I never would have believed you.
Couple Celebrates Their Projects Colliding as Northrop Grumman Helps NASA Retrieve Spacecraft After Splashdown By Michelle A. Monroe Two aerospace engineers fall in love, get married and spend years in each other’s professional orbits before they finally collide. It’s a story practically written in the stars. Debra and Joe, who work for Northrop Grumman and [...]Read More...
Carl was having a conversation with his 9-year-old grandson, Jeremiah, when he began sharing his love of science and how he turned it into a lifelong career. “As Jeremiah began asking more about climate change, I had one piece of advice: Let science be your guide,” Carl said. At Northrop Grumman, [...]Read More...
Three astronauts discuss their career paths, which have taken them everywhere from outer space to Northrop Grumman.
Five years ago, Melvin Aguirre was at a crossroads. A dog groomer by trade, he enjoyed working with his hands, preening animals prone to fidgeting and biting. At the same time, he felt an intense pull toward new challenges and meaning.
In science fiction movies, we don’t give interplanetary communications a second thought — sending a message that crosses galaxies and lightyears is as easy as ordering a pizza. In reality, communicating with even our neighboring planets can be an arduous task. For example, if you were to be dropped on Mars right now, it could take months for your messages to reach Earth using current communications systems.
Northrop Grumman is the leading provider of threat representative target vehicles used in the test and verification of the nation’s missile defense systems.
Northrop Grumman is a critical NASA partner on programs that are helping humankind make discoveries about our universe.
Northrop Grumman SYNOPTICS is the world's leading manufacturer of synthetic crystals and optical components used primarily in the solid-state laser industry.
From substitute teaching to aerospace manufacturing, Traci Elliot’s career growth shows the power of the supportive, inclusive workplace she found at Northrop Grumman. “Be impactful, learn from smart people, and offer help — whatever form it takes,” she said. “That mentality has brought me here.”
After making activity booklets to help his sister through her chemotherapy treatments, Quality Engineer Scott Murphy launched a nonprofit to spread this act of kindness to cancer patients nationwide.
Northrop Grumman SYNOPTICS is the world's leading manufacturer of synthetic crystals and optical components used primarily in the solid-state laser industry.
Solid Motor Annual Rocket Technology Demonstrator (SMART Demo) is a strategy for inserting industry informed and cutting-edge advancements into solid rocket motor design.
Northrop Grumman is working on groundbreaking solutions to help defeat modern hypersonic missiles in various phases of flight.
Ranch Manager Boyd Udy calls himself the luckiest man alive.
Northrop Grumman SYNOPTICS is the world's leading manufacturer of synthetic crystals and optical components used primarily in the solid-state laser industry.
I tell people I feel like I hit the jackpot when I joined Northrop Grumman in July 2022. My husband is a Northrop Grumman engineer, and, seeing how happy he is at work, I thought, “I want in on that.”
Northrop Grumman has been defining possible with space additive manufacturing for more than 20 years, leveraging diverse processes and metallic materials, offering significant advantages.
Northrop Grumman Space communications interns Caroline and Nicole had a powerful internship experience that shook them to their core...literally.
Welder Thomas Gibson honed his skills in the U.S. Navy, repairing ship hulls while stationed in Japan. Today, as a welder at Northrop Grumman’s site in Charlotte, North Carolina, Thomas has a hard job, literally: he welds iridium, the second-densest material on Earth, in support of the company’s laser crystal production.
Focused on performance, reduced cost and lead time, our advanced manufacturing processes produce the highest quality of aerostructures.
Building on the legacy of the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs, Northrop Grumman is pushing the limits of possible with the Artemis program, which will land the first woman and first person of color on the moon. The Artemis missions, fueled by the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, will establish the first long-term presence on and around the moon before taking the next giant leap: Mars.
Northrop Grumman SYNOPTICS is the world's leading manufacturer of synthetic crystals and optical components used primarily in the solid-state laser industry.
Northrop Grumman SYNOPTICS is the world's leading manufacturer of synthetic crystals and optical components used primarily in the solid-state laser industry.
Rosibel Diaz grew up loving puzzles, but never imagined those planning and problem-solving skills would lead her to bonding mirrors on the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb).
Northrop Grumman is a premier provider of space, ground and launch systems with deep mission expertise and end-to-end capabilities in national security, civil, and commercial systems.
Northrop Grumman is defining possible for some of the world’s most advanced missile defense technologies at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium.
Have you ever visited a marina and spotted an ornately carved dragon boat gliding across the water? Read how the modern-day version of this ancient water sport is connecting communities at Northrop Grumman's locations across the globe.
Register today to learn more about Northrop Grumman career opportunities in space.
Register today to learn more about Northrop Grumman career opportunities in space.
Northrop Grumman's business sectors offer an extraordinary portfolio of capabilities and technologies that enable us to deliver innovative systems and solutions for applications that range from air, cyber, land, sea and space.
Cutting Edge Optronics strives to provide the highest level of service and quality to our customers. The following is important information on our sales process and policies.
Northrop Grumman Space Systems designs, builds and delivers space, defense and aviation-related systems to customers around the world.
Cutting Edge Optronics (CEO) is a leading manufacturer of high-power laser diode arrays, diode-pumped laser gain modules, and diode-pumped solid-state lasers (DPSSLs).
Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket is a two-stage vehicle with optional third stage that provides low-Earth orbit launch capability for payloads weighing up to 8,000 kg.
The Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus spacecraft launched Friday, Oct. 2, 2020 at 9:16 p.m. EDT from Wallops Island, Virginia and completed its mission on Jan. 26 at 3:23 p.m. EST.
Northrop Grumman fault management engineers consider all scenarios for Landsat 9, the next satellite in a 49-year history of documenting the Earth's surface.
Enhanced Polar System (EPS) Control and Planning Segment (CAPS) provides space-enabled, secure communications capabilities to polar users in support of national objectives.
Solid rocket motors are critical to space and defense missions because of their long shelf life and ability to be launched with little preparation.
NASA's DAWN spacecraft, designed and built by Northrop Grumman, captured more than 100,000 images of the two different proto-planets, allowing scientists to catalog their previously unknown history.
Northrop Grumman’s ESPAStar platform provides a modular, cost-effective and highly capable infrastructure resource for hosting technology development and operational payloads.
Northrop Grumman is a leader in the development and manufacture of multi-gigabit-per-second communication links, with more than three decades of experience successfully integrating gigabit links into high performance space missions.
The Milstar Communications Network — a series of advanced satellites linked to mobile ground terminals — provides assured command and control to U.S. forces worldwide.
Throughout our history, Northrop Grumman, our heritage companies and our industry partners have been honored to receive the Collier Trophy on several occasions.
From day one, everyone involved in the program knew that when NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope arrived on orbit it would change humanity’s understanding of our cosmic origins. If it worked...
As the prime contractor, Northrop Grumman led the industry team for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the largest, most complex and powerful space telescope ever built.
When it comes to solving the mysteries of the universe, Northrop Grumman has pioneered groundbreaking technologies from the very beginning of the Space Age. Our engineering and innovation have made possible a decades-long list of historic space missions to help humanity peer farther into the cosmos than ever before, including most recently with the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb).
The James Webb Space Telescope will orbit far beyond the reach of human repairmen, so engineers only got one shot to get it right. To prepare for this, Northrop Grumman conduced some of the most intense tests ever devised.
The story of how NASA, together with an industry team led by Northrop Grumman, achieved the unprecedented: a tool for exploration of the deepest mysteries of our existence.
In the Spring of 2018, questions from the media, Congress and the science community swirled around NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope program. The headlines weren’t kind.
Northrop Grumman supports Artemis by providing the solid rocket boosters for the NASA Space Launch System and the abort motor and attitude control motor for the Orion spacecraft’s Launch Abort System.
Northrop Grumman is reimagining satellite services, creating a line of industrious spacecraft that refuel and repair satellites.
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Northrop Grumman is a leading designer, producer and supplier of spacecraft components that power and enable satellites of all classes.
Northrop Grumman's state-of-the-art Hyperspectral Imaging Systems operate across up to 220 wavelengths to paint precise portraits of this hidden world.
The Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster is based on three decades of knowledge and experience gained with the space shuttle booster, and improved with the latest technology.
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Over the past 20 years, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has made extraordinary discoveries to further our curiosity about the universe.
Special deliveries 200+ miles up. That’s Defining Possible.
From missile warning and strategic communications to scientific discovery, Northrop Grumman's Eagle-3 is a highly reliable, resilient spacecraft for the most challenging and essential missions.
Aqua is one of a series of orbiting Earth Observing System (EOS) platforms that are central to NASA's long-term study of the planet and its processes.
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Minotaur Space Launch Vehicle (SLV) provides an extremely cost-effective, reliable and capable space solution for U.S. Government-sponsored spacecraft. Follow this page for updates on our latest Minotaur Mission.
Northrop Grumman's ESPAStar platform enables secondary payloads to tag along with other missions, utilizing extra available space on launch vehicles, providing a modular and cost-effective spacecraft bus.
The Starshade, in development by Northrop Grumman, would fly thousands of miles in front of a space telescope and eclipse different stars as needed to study planetary systems around the closest stars.
Cryocoolers are machines that keep sensors extremely cold so that satellites and space telescopes can take pictures on long-term missions. Whether we're looking back toward Earth or outward into deep space, the sensors that capture images require extremely low temperatures.
NASA's Northrop Grumman-built Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument measures emitted and reflected radiative energy from the surface of the Earth and the atmosphere.
Northrop Grumman provides protected military communications, commercial communications and the ground systems that help bring millions of people together every day.
The Missile Defense Integration and Operations Center (MDIOC) is the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) premier integration center for national and international ballistic missile defense. The MDIOC performs a critical role in the development of U.S. defense capability and strategy.
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Northrop Grumman provides reliable and flight-proven solid rocket motors for both Northrop Grumman vehicles and for other providers in defense and commercial markets.
Northrop Grumman is accelerating the pace of new space technology development, deploying DARPA's R3D2 with extreme speed and incredible innovation.
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The Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, delivering commercial and secure military broadband communications coverage to the Arctic region.
The team behind Northrop Grumman's Scalable Space Inertial Reference Unit navigation system is working to make sure the Roman Space Telescope can stabilize and point in the right direction, even when it's extremely far from home for many years.
Northrop Grumman developed three mission extension technologies that extend satellite services.
The NASA Commercial Resupply Mission NG-19 will deliver cargo to the the International Space Station (ISS), marking 10 years of cargo resupply service to NASA and the ISS.
Northrop Grumman is a great place to discover careers that change the world and further advancements in defense, technology and engineering.
Northrop Grumman’s cryocoolers offer high reliability for critical space missions, including missile defense, climate science, astronomy, and weather tracking and prediction.
Northrop Grumman offers a complete range of propulsion products and services to develop and produce high quality flight hardware.
Since 2014, Northrop Grumman has provided vital supplies to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station with our Cygnus spacecraft launched aboard our Antares rocket.
Northrop Grumman finds creative solutions to end-of-life management. From STEM education to technician training and public display, Northrop Grumman is demonstrating that there is still plenty of life in end-of-life technology.
Built by Northrop Grumman Corporation in support of the Missile Defense Agency, two demonstration Space Tracking and Surveillance System satellites successfully completed their missions and have been retired.
Northrop Grumman engineers combined digital modeling with physical testing to predict how the James Webb Space Telescope -- the world's largest telescope -- will perform in space.
Innovation requires a balance between creativity and taking risks. Striking that balance creates a common dilemma: embracing innovation technology without disrupting current operations.
The Cygnus system is a flight proven design incorporating elements drawn from Northrop Grumman and its partners’ existing, flight-proven spacecraft technologies.
Northrop Grumman has been providing jam-resistant payloads for military communications satellites for nearly 30 years, delivering secure, protected and survivable communications to help U.S. military services achieve information superiority.
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Building the world's largest monolithic solid rocket motor. That's Defining Possible.
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Northrop Grumman is a pioneer in the design and production of commercial satellites as well as in the incorporation of civil and military hosted payloads on commercial spacecraft.
Northrop Grumman's flight-proven Minotaur I Space Launch Vehicle (SLV) provides an extremely cost-effective, reliable and capable space solution for U.S. Government-sponsored spacecraft.
Invented by Northrop Grumman engineers, the pinch polarizer plays a big role in the space industry, ensuring the transmission of satellite radio signals.
The backplane of James Webb Space Telescope will hold the weight of more than 5,300 pounds of optics and instruments — while staying calm in a cold environment.
Northrop Grumman engineers are using digital engineering methods to design and test the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO).
Northrop Grumman's depth and breadth of mission experience in developing leading-edge space technologies allows us to play vital roles in the quest to answer compelling questions about the origins of our universe, to explore beyond our own planet, and pioneer new technologies.
Before launching onto the celestial stage, Northrop Grumman experts dress spacecraft to protect it from extreme space temperatures.
By using weights, pulleys and other forms of ground support equipment (not to mention a deep understanding of physics), Northrop Grumman engineers can mimic, as much as possible, the weightlessness of zero G.
Northrop Grumman has been advancing propulsion technology since 1958.
Northrop Grumman engineers use virtual reality and 3D-printed models to step into astronauts' shoes and test the feasibility of procedures in the lunar module.
Our Common Frequency Source (CFS) products provide fixed single and dual clock references for RF and digital payloads.
Northrop Grumman's rocket design team is always working to design more reliable, better priced and more innovative rockets for customers and for emerging opportunities.
Iterative systems engineering produces barrier-breaking spacecraft design. But what does this look like in practice? How do engineering teams combine the science of spaceflight with the art of design to help customers break barriers — and balance budgets?
SpaceLogistics provides cooperative space logistics and in-orbit satellite servicing to geosynchronous satellite operators using its fleet of commercial servicing vehicles.
Northrop Grumman's antenna measurement ranges have accurately performed thousands of tests over the last 50 years.
Northrop Grumman SYNOPTICS specializes in high Laser Damage Threshold coatings, utilizing the latest thin film coating technologies.
The U.S. Air Force's Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) system is the nation's next-generation military strategic and tactical relay system, which will deliver survivable, protected communications to U.S. forces and selected allies worldwide.
Northrop Grumman SYNOPTICS is the world's leading manufacturer of synthetic crystals and optical components used primarily in the solid-state laser industry.
Northrop Grumman SYNOPTICS is the world's leading manufacturer of synthetic crystals and optical components used primarily in the solid-state laser industry.
Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space.
An Earth Observing System satellite - EOS Aura - hosts a suite of scientific instruments designed to make the most comprehensive measurements ever undertaken of trace gases in the environment that surrounds earth.
Special deliveries 200+ miles up. That’s Defining Possible.
Northrop Grumman integrates, tests and provides space launch services for the Minotaur I, IV, V, VI and C family of rockets.
Northrop Grumman is a partner with NASA in providing resupply services to the International Space Station.
With 60-plus years experience, Northrop Grumman leads in producing reliable and flight-proven solid rocket motors for civil, defense and commercial rockets and products. The CASTOR, Orion and GEM rocket motor families span a significant range of size and boost capability to support a variety of missions.
Whenever Northrop Grumman conducts a static test of the new five-segment Flight Support Booster has developed for NASA's Space Launch System, hundreds of test instruments attached to the rocket generate millions of data points through thousands of data channels.
Northrop Grumman is proud to name the NG-17 Cygnus spacecraft after former astronaut Piers Sellers.
Northrop Grumman keeps astronauts safe with its launch abort system that will be part of the Artemis mission.
When NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover lands on the Red Planet in February 2021 and begins exploring the Jezero Crater for signs of microbial life, it will be guided by a tried and trusted navigator, Northrop Grumman's LN-200S Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU).
Read key studies and reports about the U.S. Air Force’s LGM-35A Sentinel program, which will modernize the ground-based leg of the nuclear triad.
The U.S. Air Force’s Sentinel Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) is the weapon system replacement for the aging LGM-30 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system (ICBM). Sentinel (GBSD) represents the modernization of the ground-based leg of the nuclear triad.
Northrop Grumman has been awarded the U.S. Air Force’s LGM-35A Sentinel contract to replace the aging ICBM System.
Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft, launched aboard our Antares rocket, performs cargo resupply missions for NASA to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract.
On Jan. 31, 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris awarded Doug and Bob the Congressional Space Medal of Honor for their meritorious efforts and contributions to America’s space programs throughout their NASA careers, including their roles in the Demo-2 mission. [...]Read More...
Northrop Grumman is a pioneering company, defining possible in space through end-to-end capabilities that protect our nation and allies, and advance human discovery.
The Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform (VAMP) air vehicle (AV) is an aeroshell-less hypersonic entry vehicle that transitions to a semi-buoyant, maneuverable, solar-powered air vehicle for flight in Venus' atmosphere.
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Northrop Grumman's SharkSat program scales up speed and specificity to deliver an advanced technology demonstration.
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Our Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) is currently performing successfully on the Soumi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-1 spacecraft, now known officially as NOAA-20.
Imagine having to squeeze an enormous mirror and a sunshield that's the size of a tennis court into a rocket ship. This is the reality of an intricate deployment Northrop Grumman engineers have incorporated into the construction of the James Webb Space Telescope.
We have openings for cleared systems and software engineers – including critical roles in DevSecOps, Embedded Software and Development, Cyber Systems Engineering, Systems Administration and more.
Two of Northrop Grumman’s extended length, 63-inch-diameter Graphite Epoxy Motors (GEM 63XL) etched their place in history in January 2024, when the 72-foot-long solid rocket boosters (SRB) helped power the successful inaugural flight of the Vulcan rocket.
Northrop Grumman has job opportunities that play a vital role in human space exploration, national defense, and scientific discovery, supporting multiple programs across the universe.
The James Webb Space Telescope is peering into the past to unlock the mysteries of our universe. Learn about the technical details of this ambitious mission.
NASA's upcoming Artemis II mission promises to break new ground in making space travel safer. Building on the success of the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022, the next will be NASA's first with a human crew.
From the spacecraft that took humankind to the moon to the cellphone in your pocket, Northrop Grumman has always been a trailblazer in microelectronics, the tiny parts that power electronic devices. In foundries on both coasts of the United States, Northrop Grumman engineers, technicians and researchers design and manufacture complex microelectronics components, and the company’s expertise in microelectronics continues to shape the world — as it has for nearly seven decades.
We’re developing a first-of-its-kind space router for satellites called Hydrant that will enable the transfer of data to Earth from anywhere in orbit, even if a satellite in a constellation is lost or destroyed.