BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — NASA inked a deal with a major commercial space company, setting the table for even more launches from the Space Coast.

  • Northrop Gruman constructing OmegA rocket at NASA's VAB
  • Company is the 1st-ever commercial tenant at the iconic building
  • Get more space coverage

It weaves history and the future at the Kennedy Space Center.

Northrop Grumman has become the first-ever commercial tenant at the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building, which served the Apollo and Shuttle Programs beginning in 1967.

"It's a great pleasure for me to be here today, to cut the ribbon, and sign this historic agreement," Kennedy Space Center Robert Cabana told the crowd in the shadow of the VAB.

"Look at this team, look at this facility," said Kent Rominger of Northrop Grumman, a veteran Shuttle Astronaut. "There is none other in the world like it. It's an honor to bring the first commercial system into this VAB."

The company will lease space in the VAB High Bay 2 to construct its brand new 196-foot tall OmegA rocket.

They will also use the very same mobile launcher that hosted the Apollo 11 moon mission.

Plus, it was used in the three decade-long shuttle program.

It will be modified with a 330-foot tall fixed service structure to mirror what was used in the Apollo Program's Saturn V rocket. Ultimately, it will launch at Pad 39B.

"This is really exciting," said Northrop Grumman Omega Project Manager ​Jerry Close.

Close has been at KSC for 30 years, and worked on the shuttle's solid rocket boosters.

He is amazed at the area's resurgence since the orbiters retired in 2011.

"When the shuttle was (retiring), we never envisioned it would come back to life out here," Close said.

The agreement continues the vision to make KSC a multi-user spaceport for government and commercial businesses.

"With OmegA, we truly are standing on the shoulders of giants in space history," Rominger told the crowd.

The new OmegA rocket will launch government and commercial missions to low Earth orbit.

Certification test flights are set for 2021.