Northrop Grumman Gets NASA Deal

Redondo Beach employees of are looking for ways to make solar-powered flight systems more efficient for NASA deep space and human exploration missions, a company spokeswoman confirmed to the Daily Breeze on Tuesday.

According to a news release from Northrop Grumman, the company recently won a $600,000 contract from NASA to study the technology. NASA eventually hopes to develop a "high-power solar electric propulsion system for a 'space tugboat' that can ferry satellites from Low Earth Orbit to Geosynchronous Earth Orbit, saving fuel and secondary booster costs."

"In collaboration with our partners, we are working on alternatives to the typical solar array approach," Northrop Grumman Solar Electric Propulsion Program Manager Jim Munger said in the news release. "Our concept will be scalable to 300 kilowatts and beyond and have the potential for reducing the cost and complexity of high-power requirements."

Northrop Grumman is one of five companies to receive the four-month contract, the Breeze reported. Boeing Co. employees in Huntington Beach, with help from experts in El Segundo, will also be working on the project.