News > US Spacecraft Named After Late Indian-American Astronaut Kalpana Chawla

US Spacecraft Named After Late Indian-American Astronaut Kalpana Chawla

Northrop Grumman, an American global aerospace and defence technology company, announced that its next Cygnus capsule will be named the “S.S. Kalpana Chawla”, in memory of the mission specialist who died with her six crewmates aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 2003.

“Today we honour Kalpana Chawla, who made history at @NASA as the first female astronaut of Indian descent. While Chawla made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the space programme, her legacy lives on.”