NASA has worked with Northrop Grumman and Ball Aerospace to assess the capability of the James Webb Space Telescope’s two main components to communicate with each other. Engineers and technicians used ground wires to temporarily connect the spacecraft to the telescope as part of the optional “risk reduction” test, NASA said Wednesday. “Specifically in this […] More

Northrop Grumman CEO Wes Bush has said he would be open to making the company’s award fees from the James Webb Space Telescope development contract depend on the successful commissioning of NASA’s space observatory following launch, SpaceNews reported Thursday. “As a mechanism to ensure we are all aligned on mission success, Northrop Grumman has actually […] More

Northrop Grumman has powered up two main components of NASA‘s James Webb Space Telescope as part of the program’s test and integration phase. The company said Wednesday it switched on the Optical Telescope element/Integrated Science instrument module and Spacecraft Element separately at facilities located in  Redondo Beach, Calif. Engineers used external power tools to generate compatible energy that would start […] More

NASA has selected Ball Aerospace to produce an optical technology for a new space observatory designed to help scientists conduct research into dark energy, exoplanets and infrared astrophysics. The company said Wednesday it will build the Optical Mechanical Assembly for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope and support WFI integration and test efforts. Jim Oschmann, vice president and general manager […] More

NASA has pushed back from 2019 to May 2020 the launch of its James Webb Space Telescope to give the program’s engineers more time to test and integrate the telescope and spacecraft components. “All the observatory’s flight hardware is now complete, however, the issues brought to light with the spacecraft element are prompting us to take […] More

Northrop Grumman engineers are set to conduct final tests on NASA‘s James Webb Space Telescope after they have unloaded optical and scientific instruments from a shipping container at a company facility in Redondo Beach, California. The company aims to ensure that the space observatory is ready for its mission before it heads to a Kourou, French Guiana, launch site, NASA said Monday. […] More

An instrument module of NASA‘s James Webb Space Telescope arrived at Northrop Grumman‘s Redondo Beach, California-based facility Friday ahead of scheduled tests. NASA shipped the combined Optical Telescope and Integrated Science instrument module from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, after the agency completed cryogenic tests on the hardware, Northrop said Monday. OTIS was encased in a […] More

NASA engineers have removed the James Webb Space Telescope from the space agency’s thermal vacuum testing platform installed at the Johnson Space Center following completion of a 100-day cryogenic test. The agency said Saturday it tested JWST’s optical structure and scientific instruments at Chamber A to determine if the future space observatory could function in a simulated space environment. NASA […] More

Northrop Grumman has integrated the last defense layers of a sun shield system built to protect optics and instruments of the James Webb Space Telescope from heat. The company said Monday its aerospace systems business designed the sun shield layers that will work to help reduce the temperatures between cold and hot JWST components. Huntsville, Alabama-based NeXolve manufactured the […] More

Northrop Grumman has received the mid-boom assemblies from its Astro Aerospace subsidiary for integration with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Astro Aerospace designed and built two boom assemblies designed to deploy the telescope’s sunshield component once in orbit, Northrop said Monday. Astro Aerospace delivered the assemblies to Northrop’s Redondo Beach, California-based facility after it completed […] More

Ball Aerospace & Technologies has completed a six-month study on the wide field instrument for a NASA observatory that seeks to support the agency’s astrophysics research mission. The company said Monday it examined WFI technology and scientific requirements for NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope currently under development as a follow-on project to the James Webb Space Telescope. WFIRST is designed to capture images […] More

A Northrop Grumman-built navigation platform has worked to provide attitude control capabilities for NASA’s Cassini space vehicle in support of the Saturn exploration mission. The spacecraft with Northrop’s Space Inertial Reference Unit maneuvered through a 1,500-mile gap between the planet and its rings on April 26, the company said Thursday. Northrop’s SIRU navigation platform has a […] More