Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman is an American aerospace and defense corporation formed in 1994 through the merger of Northrop Corporation and Grumman Aerospace, with company heritage tracing back to Northrop Aircraft in 1939. It is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, and its Space Systems sector absorbed Orbital ATK in 2018, bringing a portfolio of launch vehicles and space hardware.

On the launch side the company builds the Antares medium-lift rocket, the solid-fueled Minotaur family derived from retired ICBM motors, and the air-launched Pegasus rocket. It also manufactures the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, which delivers supplies to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract.

Antares 230+ flew its final mission in August 2023, and Northrop Grumman is developing the all-American Antares 330 with a Firefly Aerospace first stage. In the interim its Cygnus (and the upgraded Cygnus XL) freighters fly to the ISS aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, with the Cygnus XL NG-24 mission launching in April 2026.