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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday announced it has cleared Northrop Grumman's $7.8 billion purchase of defense and space contractor Orbital ATK. Orbital ATK will become Northrop Grumman's fourth business sector, named Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. The other three are Aerospace Systems, Mission Systems and Technology Services. With the addition, Northrop Grumman's sales for 2018 should reach $30 billion. Blake Larson will serve as corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. As a condition for the approval of the merger, the company will have to supply solid rocket motors "on a non-discriminatory basis under specified circumstances,"...

NASA's latest five-segment solid rocket development motor (DM-2)   (Source: NASA) DM-2 awaits its first test fire Rocket will see first action in 2015 delivering new rescue capsule (Orion) to the ISS The U.S. space program is about to go through some dramatic changes.  President Barack Obama has moved ahead with plans to retire the Space Shuttle in 2011.  U.S. missions to the International Space Station will be provided by Russia's aging Soyuz modular spacecraft. Meanwhile, the U.S. government will work to fill its manned spacecraft needs with more permanent replacements from private sector companies like SpaceX and will fill in the...

A freight train carrying segments of the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters derailed Wednesday after a recently repaired bridge collapsed over boggy ground, authorities said. Six people aboard the train were reported injured, one critically. Snip... NASA said it was not immediately known whether the equipment was damaged. But space agency spokesman Allard Beutel in Washington said the accident should not delay any shuttle launches. "It appears when the train got onto the trestle, the trestle just gave way and sank to the ground," said Mike Rudolphi, an official with the boosters' manufacturer who went to the wreck site....