Explosion at US military plant

The explosion occurred at 7:35 a.m. local time on April 16 (4:35 p.m. Kyiv time) at the Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems plant in Promontory. No one was injured, it was reported.

Late yesterday evening, Northrop released a brief statement saying they were still investigating the cause of the explosion. However, the company declined to elaborate on their statement when contacted by reporters. In particular, they did not specify the purpose of the building where the explosion occurred.

Footage from the explosion scene taken by local television crews showed significant destruction, but no further fire.

It is worth noting that Northrop produces solid-propellant rocket engines, covering almost 90% of the needs of the US Air Force, NASA, and commercial space launches.

Northrop has reportedly been using its Promontor facility, sometimes called Rocket Ranch, to conduct test launches of Sentinel rocket engines. On March 6, the facility conducted a large-scale static test of the solid-fueled first-stage rocket engine.