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London, 6 October 2023.- Voyager Space announced on the 4th of October that they plan to enter a teaming agreement with Northrop Grumman. The agreement will include developing a fully autonomous rendezvous and docking technology for Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft. Voyager will provide cargo resupply services for the Starlab space station, a free-flying space station.
Under the teaming agreement the companies will explore opportunities to strengthen the development of Starlab and the enhanced Cygnus system, to serve NASA Commercial Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) Development program (CLDP). The parties will also explore opportunities for Northrop Grumman to provide engineering services in support of the design and development of Starlab.
Both parties have agreed to a framework under which Northrop Grumman will perform services to upgrade its flight-proven Cygnus cargo vehicle with a fully autonomous docking system to support Starlab missions.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft will deliver pressurised cargo to Starlab over an initial five-year period to support future human spaceflight missions. The Cygnus spacecraft has completed 19 missions, delivering over 138,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). Cygnus has demonstrated capabilities including the ability to function as a laboratory while docked to the ISS, deploy satellites, and re-boost the station’s orbit.
“This collaboration is a major step forward for the Starlab program,” said Dylan Taylor, Chairman and CEO of Voyager Space. “Northrop Grumman’s technical capability and proven success in cargo resupply services will play a pivotal role as we accelerate Starlab’s development. We’re proud to be supporting advanced docking systems that push LEO transportation operations forward and advance critical technology for deep space exploration. We are thrilled to have Northrop Grumman on our Starlab team.”
This follows the news that Voyager and Airbus announced an agreement to form a transatlantic joint venture to develop and operate the Starlab space station.
