Northrop Grumman expands Arizona satellite facility to meet growing demand

Northrop Grumman Corporation today marked the completion of its expansion of the satellite manufacturing facility at its Gilbert, Arizona campus.

The expansion adds 120,000 sq. ft to the existing 135,000 sq. ft. facility, nearly doubling the site’s production capacity to meet the company’s growing backlog of satellite orders.

“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 sq. 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.

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