Northrop Grumman CEO Won’t Rule Out Space Robots As Weapons

Topline

Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden on Tuesday appeared to avoid a question about whether the defense contractor’s robotic spacecraft—scheduled for an evening launch by SpaceX—could be weaponized, suggesting she would “leave it up to the U.S. government.”

“I will leave it up to the U.S. government,” CEO Kathy Warden said during an earnings call.

Key Facts

Northrop Grumman’s Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV) is scheduled to launch on Tuesday barring a weather delay, Warden said during the firm’s earnings call, with a roughly four-hour launch window opening at 5:15 p.m. EDT.

Northrop Grumman has pitched its MRV as the first robotic spacecraft capable of repairing, relocating and upgrading satellites in orbit, and Warden indicated the MRV will become operational in 2027 after orbital positioning and testing.

When asked by Melius Research analyst Scott Mikus whether there was a market for an “offensive version” of the MRV that could disable other satellites, Warden replied: “I will leave it up to the U.S. government to decide how that capability might fulfill mission objectives.”

big number

$105 billion. That’s the size of Northrop Grumman’s backlog, a record, the company reported Tuesday. The defense contractor raised its sales outlook for the year to up to $44.25 billion, above consensus Wall Street estimates of just below $44 billion, according to FactSet. Earnings through Northrop Grumman’s latest quarter came at $4.86 per share and revenue hit $44.8 billion, well above projections of $2.96 per share and $35.7 billion, respectively.

tangent

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in April the automaker’s humanoid robot Optimus “will not just be Tesla’s biggest product ever, but probably the biggest product ever.” Tesla unveiled its robotics project in 2021, as Musk said the company’s goal is to “make a useful humanoid robot as quickly as possible.”

key background

Northrop Grumman has positioned space as one of its major strategic business targets in recent years, landing a series of contracts with the U.S. military. The defense contractor has also expanded into servicing satellites through its SpaceLogistics subsidiary, which developed the MRV. Northrop Grumman’s space segment accounted for 15% of all of its revenue through the latest quarter in addition to a backlog exceeding $16 billion.

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