Northrop expects next year's space growth to 'modulate' as GBSD continues to expand

Coming off a quarter that logged a 34% jump in space sales, driven in large part by Northrop Grumman's role in the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent program, company officials anticipate that growth will "modulate" heading into 2022.

Still, CEO Kathy Warden said she expects GBSD will continue to grow over the next two years.

“It has a long ramp, if you will,” she told investors during the company’s second-quarter earnings call today.

Fueled in part by higher launch and strategic mission sales, the space-sector growth was “primarily due to ramp-up on GBSD,” as well as the Missile Defense Agency’s Next-Generation Interceptor program and higher volume on hypersonics programs, per today’s press release.

The quarter ended June 30. Over the first three months of the year, space sales grew 29%.

This year, the Minuteman III replacement program makes up nearly $1 billion in incremental revenue, Warden said. But she noted that some 60% of the growth is from non-GBSD efforts, representing “healthy growth across the entire space portfolio."

While Warden cautioned the space segment would “modulate from this year,” she expects it will continue to be Northrop’s fastest growing area.

“There just aren’t the same number of opportunities going into 2022 as there are in 2021,” she said, adding: “We do see that modulating a bit but [there are] still plenty of growth drivers for 2022.”