Mary-Louise Hoffman
Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $45.96 million contract modification by the U.S. Space Force to continue developing a rideshare satellite platform to deploy small payloads into geostationary orbit for refueling demonstration efforts.
The modification covers development, delivery, launch and initial on-orbit support services for the Rapid On-orbit Space Technology Evaluation Ring effort, the Department of Defense said Friday.
DOD described the platform as a “self-propulsive secondary payload adapter” for smallsat deployment.
USSF chose Northrop in July 2022 to produce the ROOSTER space vehicle, which the service branch intends to use in future operational, prototype and technology maturation activities.
The branch is obligating $29.1 million in research, development, test and evaluation funds for fiscal 2023 at the time of award and expects the company to finish work by May 29, 2026.
