Northrop Grumman Ends its Commercial Space Station Plan, Teams With Voyager
An artist’s rendition of the Starlab commercial space station. Photo: Starlab Space LLC
Northrop Grumman is no longer pursuing its own commercial space station and instead will be working with Voyager Space on its Starlab project. Voyager and Northrop Grumman announced their new collaboration on Wednesday, and NASA confirmed Northrop is withdrawing from its contract with the agency.
Northrop Grumman was awarded $125.6 million in 2021 through NASA’s commercial Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) development program to develop its Cygnus spacecraft into a free-flying space station as a possible replacement for the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA said that to date, it has paid Northrop Grumman $36.6 million for successful milestones. NASA plans to take the remaining funding to add milestones to its agreements with the other partners.
Under the new agreement, Northrop Grumman agreed to upgrade the Cygnus cargo vehicle with a fully autonomous docking system to support Starlab missions. Northrop Grumman may also provide engineering services to Starlab development.
“We are fully committed to the future of commercial LEO. Our new role with Starlab supports NASA’s initiatives to encourage commercial space station development as part of a growing LEO economy,” said Steve Krein, vice president of Civil and Commercial Space at Northrop Grumman.
NASA’s Phil McAlister, director of commercial space, called it a positive development for commercial LEO destinations.
“Northrop Grumman has determined that its best strategy is to join the Nanoracks team, and NASA respects and supports that decision. We continue to see a strong competitive landscape for future commercial destinations, and I am pleased that Northrop is staying with the program,” McAlister said.
The Starlab team now includes Voyager Space, Northrop Grumman, and Airbus, which formed a joint venture with Voyager in August to operate the commercial space station. Lockheed Martin was originally a partner in Starlab, but is no longer listed as a partner on Starlab’s website. Voyager Space CEO Dylan Taylor told Reuters in August that Lockheed will likely still play a role in the supply chain.