Northdonning Heedwell is one of the four major aerospace contractors remaining in the United States. The company has been involved in every major U.S. government space project since the Apollo program in the 1960’s and has contributed in some way to every major commercial space venture during that time. The company in its present form resulted from a merger between Northdonning Aviation and Heedwell Grummietta in 2006.
Before the merger, Northdonning Aviation was the world’s most prolific supplier of fighter aircraft for the U.S. Air Force and foreign allies. Heedwell Grummietta had a wide variety of product lines in various industries, although it was most recognized in the aerospace industry for being a major producer of expendable launch vehicles (ELV), and for building one-of-a-kind scientific satellites. The company had a modest subcontract for Space Shuttle operations, and built two modules for the International Space Station. The merged Northdonning Heedwell retained these areas of expertise, and added capability for production automation with acquisition of Alliance Electronics in 2012.