The UK arm of US defence and space company Northrop Grumman, with more than ten UK sites and a space presence at Space Park Leicester.
Northrop Grumman UK is the British business of a large American company that builds defence, security and space systems. In the UK it describes itself as delivering defence, space and security solutions, using data science, machine learning and secure cloud systems, and gives examples such as a radar sensor for the RAF's E-7 Wedgetail aircraft, support for Royal Navy Astute-class submarines and software updates for NATO. Worldwide, the group's space business builds satellites, sensors, launch systems and propulsion, and it was prime contractor to NASA for the James Webb Space Telescope. It also helped create the satellite-servicing market, where spacecraft repair or refuel other satellites in orbit.
The UK site presents the business as a British business focused on long-term prosperity and social value in the UK, with investment in research, sovereign intellectual property and high-quality jobs. It says it has joined The 5% Club and highlights a "Belong and Thrive" programme. In space, David Pile, regional director for space systems at Northrop Grumman UK, said in 2021 that the company develops technology that ensures security and advances human discovery on space missions, and that the UK Ministry of Defence sees space as a key priority. He added that the company is a member of the Open Innovation Space consortium, which aims to open more opportunities to UK small businesses.
The UK page says Northrop Grumman operates from more than ten UK sites and sustains employment for more than 5,000 people, mostly in small UK firms and supply-chain partners, so that figure is not the number of direct employees. In space, the company joined Space Park Leicester in July 2021. The park is a University of Leicester hub on Corporation Road next to the National Space Centre, opened in March 2022, and lists Northrop Grumman among its tenants. The UK site also mentions news of in-space manufacturing work with Space Forge. We found no other space site by name.
On culture, the company's own UK page talks about belonging and thriving, and Mr Pile has said he came to the company after leaving the British Army in 2003, and credits that background with learning technical ideas quickly. He has said he wants to help UK companies reach the US market and sees growth in defence space, satellite communications, surveillance and space domain awareness, which is the tracking of objects in orbit. These are views and claims from the company's own people.
The roles at a company of this size are broad: systems and software engineers, data scientists, cyber specialists, project managers, business development staff, and engineers who test and support complex equipment, plus finance, legal and human resources teams. Maths, physics, computing and engineering are common starting points. Space roles in the UK are a small part of the business, so check the company's website for where they sit.
Website: www.northropgrumman.com/who-we-are/global-presence/northrop-grumman-in-the-uk
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