Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) opened the firm’s Maryland Space Assembly and Test (MSAT) 2 facility at the company’s Baltimore campus — this 55,000 square foot facility provides a digitally integrated manufacturing, assembly and test hub to support customer needs and the company’s growing space payload and ground systems capabilities.
“Our continued investment in Maryland helps meet our customer needs while strengthening our commitments to this community and our workforce,” said Scott Lee, vice president and general manager, payload and ground systems, Northrop Grumman. “The new digitally integrated MSAT2 grows our advanced manufacturing, assembly and test capabilities as we continue to deliver end-to-end space solutions with speed and agility.”
MSAT2 adds a progressive assembly line and unique testing capabilities to the integrated Maryland Space Assembly and Test complex. A central feature is a state-of-the-art, thermal vacuum chamber (TVAC). The TVAC simulates the harsh thermal conditions of space, allowing engineers to subject space payloads to extreme temperature variations and ensure uninterrupted performance. The facility also includes advanced, digitally driven robotic manufacturing with environmentally controlled 10K and 100K class clean rooms.
“We’re at the forefront of developing innovative technologies across our diverse and connected business from undersea to outer space and cyberspace,” said Roshan Roeder, vice president and general manager, airborne multifunction sensors, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems. “We continue to grow and expand our workforce including digital and software engineers, technicians and related fields.”
Northrop Grumman opened its digitally integrated Maryland Space Assembly and Test 2 facility on its Baltimore-Washington International campus in Linthicum. Scott Lee, Vice President and General Manager, Payload and Ground Systems, Northrop Grumman (far left), Congressman John Sarbanes, U.S. House of Representatives, Tom Riford, Assistant Secretary, Maryland Department of Commerce, Mark Caylor, Corporate Vice President and Missions Systems President, Northrop Grumman, Roshan Roeder, Vice President and General Manager, Airborne Multifunction Sensors, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Jay Patel, Vice President, Remote Sensing Programs, Northrop Grumman Payload and Ground Systems, Steuart Pittman, County Executive, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and Delegate Mike Rogers, District 32 (far right) inside hangar 2 at Northrop Grumman’s Mission Systems headquarters in Linthicum, Maryland on September 19, 2022.
This new facility expands the company presence at the more than one million square foot campus. Across Maryland, Northrop Grumman has a broad portfolio of technologies from sensors that detect, identify and track threats across the electromagnetic spectrum to technology leadership in networking systems, microelectronics, cyber and artificial intelligence capabilities. At the Baltimore campus, the company also conducts flight tests with its fleet of test aircraft and provides a digital engineering simulation capability of aircraft in development.
Northrop Grumman has a long history in Maryland, with more than 13,000 employees across the state, more than 1,600 who are veterans, and partnerships with nearly 2,000 local suppliers as well as colleges, universities, and community organizations.