Northrop Grumman Corporation marked the completion of its expansion of the satellite manufacturing facility at its Gilbert, Arizona campus. The expansion adds 120,000-square-feet to the existing 135,000-square-foot facility, nearly doubling the site’s production capacity to meet the company’s growing backlog of satellite orders.
“Arizona is a magnet for the space industry,” said Governor Doug Ducey. “Northrop Grumman’s expansion here in Gilbert and at its other Arizona facilities reinforces the state’s reputation as a premier destination for high-tech industry and jobs.”
“We have manufactured and delivered over 100 spacecraft for NASA science programs, commercial communications, and national security missions since we opened this facility in 2004,” said Cyrus Dhalla, Vice President and General Manager, Tactical Space Systems, Northrop Grumman. “This new expansion will help us meet the increasing demand from these customers.”
Programs currently in production at the Gilbert facility include the JPSS-2, -3 and -4 Earth observation satellites for NASA and NOAA as well as several ESPAStar and more than 30 ESPASat satellites for various customers, with capacity for many more per year. The facility will also be home to the integration and testing of the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), the first module of NASA’s Lunar Gateway that will serve as a space station orbiting the moon, providing vital support for long-term human exploration of the lunar surface and deep space.
The 30-acre Northrop Grumman Gilbert campus features a total of 435,000 square feet of space for satellite design, engineering, manufacturing, testing, and program management. The satellite manufacturing facility is designed to enable the manufacture of spacecraft under one roof.
The flexibility built into the facility allows for the production of spacecraft ranging from larger mission-unique satellites to the large-scale production of small satellites, enabling the agility required to meet customer needs.
Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees define possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services.
