SpaceX not to blame for lost mystery satellite, report says, Cnet “A super secretive US government satellite SpaceX launched in January never made it to orbit after it failed to separate from the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket. Three months later, it still appears the satellite manufacturer Northrop Grumman may be to blame for the loss and not SpaceX. A new report from The Wall Street Journal published […]
SpaceX gets good news from the Air Force on the Zuma mission, Ars Technica “A little more than two weeks have passed since the apparent loss of the highly classified Zuma mission. Since then, SpaceX has publicly and privately stated that its Falcon 9 rocket performed nominally throughout the flight–with both its first and second stages firing as anticipated. Now, the US Air Force seems to be backing the rocket […]
Statement From Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO of SpaceX on Zuma Launch “For clarity: after review of all data to date, Falcon 9 did everything correctly on Sunday night. If we or others find otherwise based on further review, we will report it immediately. Information published that is contrary to this statement is categorically false. Due to the classified nature of the payload, no further comment is possible. “ It’s […]
Northrop Grumman Developing XS-1 Experimental Spaceplane Design for DARPA “Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) with Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic is developing a preliminary design and flight demonstration plan for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Experimental Spaceplane XS-1 program. XS-1 has a reusable booster that when coupled with an expendable upper stage provides affordable, available and responsive space lift for 3,000-pound class spacecraft into low Earth orbit. Reusable boosters […]
Northrop Grumman, ATK Complete Backbone of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, Northrop Grumman “Northrop Grumman Corporation and teammate ATK have completed manufacturing of the backplane support frame (BSF) for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Northrop Grumman is under contract to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for the design and development of the Webb Telescope’s optics, sunshield and spacecraft.”
Northrop Grumman Foundation Announces 2011 Weightless Flights of Discovery Program at National Science Teachers’ Association Conference “The Northrop Grumman Foundation announced today that the Foundation is accepting teacher applications for the 2011 Weightless Flights of Discovery program, a unique professional development initiative that places teachers on microgravity flights to test Newton’s Laws of Motion and energize students during their formative middle school years. The announcement was made during the National […]
Coalition for Space Exploration Appoints New Leadership for 2011 “The Coalition for Space Exploration (Coalition) today announced veteran aerospace communicators Glenn Mahone of Aerojet and Lon Rains of Northrop Grumman will lead the Coalition’s Public Affairs Team in 2011. Mahone and Rains will serve as the new chair and deputy chair, respectively. Each will serve a one-year term, effective January through December 2011.”
Keith’s note: Word has it that there are big worries at NASA and Northrop Grumman with regard to Webb Space Telescope. If NASA ends up operating under a Continuing Resolution – one that does not provide the increased funds that Webb requires – there is a fear that large layoffs may be in the near-term forecast. Stay tuned.
Masten Space Systems Attempts Launch of Lunar Lander Rocket to Qualify for Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge Top Prize “On Oct. 28 & 29, Masten Space Systems, led by former Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society (ERPS) president David Masten, will be the second of three teams attempting to complete the requirements for the Level 2 portion of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge (NGLLC), funded by NASA, and created and presented […]
