Northrop buys SpaceX three cargo launches as it upgrades Antares rocket

FILE PHOTO: With a view of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at left, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars upward from Launch Complex 39A carrying the company’s Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule and four Crew-2 astronauts towards the International Space Station at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. April 23, 2021. NASA/Ben Smegelsky/Handout via REUTERS

Northrop Grumman has signed a launch deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to send three cargo missions to the International Space Station while the company builds an upgraded version of its workhorse Antares rocket, a Northrop spokeswoman said on Monday.

The launch agreement with SpaceX coincides with Northrop climbing out of a months-long predicament with its workhorse Antares rocket, whose Russian-made engines were cut off from the United States in March by Moscow in retaliation for Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

“The launches will take place in late 2023 and 2024 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida in support of the NG-20, -21 and -22 CRS missions,” Northrop spokeswoman Ellen Klicka said in an email.

Reuters.com by Joey Roulette; Editing by Leslie Adler and Grant McCool