Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 19, 2022 Northrop Grumman recently signed agreements to license three...
Northrop Grumman recently signed agreements to license three technologies from NASA related to satellite servicing.
Two of the technologies were developed by NASA for the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 mission.
One of the NASA technologies licensed for future use by Northrop Grumman is a gripper tool used to grapple satellites.
NASA developed the technology to allow OSAM-1's robotic arm to grapple Landsat 7's marman ring, or the component that originally attached the satellite to the rocket that launched it to space.
Northrop Grumman has also licensed the client berthing system that was developed by NASA for OSAM-1.
Cooperative servicing technologies like the FTC are critical to establishing a sustained human presence beyond low-Earth orbit and can also help to make spaceflight more affordable and sustainable through routine servicing of satellites.
"Working together with private and civil organizations like NASA is a smart way to further develop advanced technologies, achieve common standards, and deliver them as rapidly as possible to our customers," said Joanne Woestman, director of on-orbit servicing programs at Northrop Grumman.
NASA has previously collaborated with Northrop Grumman on satellite servicing activities, such as providing technical assistance for its Mission Extension Vehicle, or MEV, through a no-funds exchanged Space Act Agreement.
"An important part of making satellite servicing the norm is transferring the necessary NASA technologies to U.S. companies to jumpstart new commercial industries," said Trudy Kortes, director of technology demonstrations within NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
With that goal in mind, NASA is actively transferring OSAM-1 and other servicing technologies as they are developed to any interested U.S. company via Space Act Agreements, licenses, and other agreements.