Acquisition of Orbital ATK by Northrup Grumman Makes for High Drama in Commercial Space Racing

When it comes to American space racing, acquisition of Orbital ATK by Northrup Gramman is high drama.  Orbital ATK along with Elon Musk and SpaceX has developed an excellent reputation for performance and reliability.  Northrup Grumman has had an excellent reputation in aeronautics for decades so it's not surprising to see their hunger for an extraplanetary presence but there's definitely to surprise to see Orbital ATK was ready to yield that to them.

The Rockhouse has no particular editorial beyond the surprise at seeing this change.  It's extraordinary since I believe Orbital ATK is still owned by Lockheed Martin & Boeing so these are really big fish and they're dealing with exceptionally large properties.

LA Times:  Northrop Grumman aims for space with $7.8-billion bid to buy Orbital ATK


With its $7.8-billion bid to buy Orbital ATK Inc., Northrop Grumman Corp. is betting that the militarization of space and missile defense will get increasing attention — and dollars — from the Pentagon.

- Times

They bet is much larger than that since Orbital ATK and SpaceX provide a great many of the launch services needed by NASA.  The focus definitely isn't solely military since SpaceX and Orbital ATK as well plan to provide launch services for astronauts, I believe, next year.  The civilian applications for the commercial space providers is likely at or nor the military applications needed.


Orbital, based in Dulles, Va., has developed several small to medium-sized rockets that can hoist payloads into space. The company also makes small satellites.

Northrop is best known for its bombers, drones and other military equipment. It built the B-2 bomber in Palmdale and has a contract to build the follow-up B-21 fleet, which could eventually cost more than $80 billion. But it also makes satellite components and has manufactured large satellites. The Falls Church, Va., firm is constructing the James Webb Space Telescope, an $8.8-billion spacecraft with a 21-foot-diameter mirror that is set to capture the oldest light in the universe.

“It’ll be a juggernaut of an aerospace company,” said Phil Smith, space industry analyst at consulting firm Bryce Space and Technology. “You’ll have basically a full suite of space capabilities.”

- Time

I think going 'all in' is the statement to make when one makes a substantial increase to one's bet in Las Vegas Poker and this purchase is essentially the same thing for Northrup Grummar with a radical increase in their in-house technology in a single step.