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Post Info TOPIC: Orbital Sciences Corporation
Blobrana


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RE: Orbital Sciences Corporation
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Like all would-be space entrepreneurs, David Thompson needed a big idea to get his business going.
Having worked on the development of the shuttle, he thought there might be something interesting one could usefully do with the vehicles' giant external fuel tanks.
These behemoths are dumped once the orbiters have made it into space and fall back into the atmosphere to be destroyed.
Thompson's brainwave was to push them into orbit, also.
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Blobrana


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Orbital Submits Proposal for NASA's Commercial Crew Development Program

Orbital Sciences Corporation today announced that it has submitted a proposal to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in response to the Commercial Crew Development-2 contract solicitation. The company also provided several top-level details of its proposal for providing safe and affordable transportation services to and from the International Space Station (ISS) and for commercial activities in Earth orbit. Orbital's concept includes the following details:

A "blended lifting body" vehicle that will launch atop an expendable launch vehicle and return to Earth with a conventional runway landing. This design derives from studies performed by Orbital for NASA under the Orbital Space Plane program between 2000 and 2003.
The vehicle would seat four astronauts, providing a cost-effective solution for NASA's astronaut transportation needs, as well as enabling future commercial applications.
The proposal baselines using a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, but is flexible enough to accommodate other launch vehicle options.

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Blobrana


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Orbital Proposes Spaceplane for Astronauts

Orbital Sciences Corp. officially entered the race to provide commercial transportation for U.S. astronauts, proposing a spaceplane resembling a dramatically slimmed-down update of the retiring space shuttle.
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Blobrana


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Orbital Sciences opens new Chandler building
Orbital Sciences Corp. has taken possession of a new 82,000-square-foot building in south Chandler and has started moving employees into the new space.

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Blobrana


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Minotaur rockets
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NASA's chief advisory council urged the agency Thursday to buy Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Minotaur rockets for space science missions, a move that would divert vital launch business from Florida to Virginia.
It also would be a blow to United Launch Alliance and its Delta 2 rockets, frequent fliers from Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The highly reliable Delta 2s -- which now are riding a world-
record 82 consecutive launch successes -- long have been NASA space science workhorses, lofting missions to Mercury, Mars, asteroids and other destination

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Blobrana


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Orbital Sciences Corporation has announced that it has been awarded a $23 million contract for two Minotaur I space launch vehicles by the United States Air Force (USAF) Rocket System Launch Program (RSLP). The two new missions will launch the TacSat-2 and TacSat-3 satellites in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The TacSat-2 launch will demonstrate Orbital's ability to carry out an operationally responsive launch service just six months after the contract award. The second launch is scheduled to take place within a year of the first launch, currently scheduled for September 2007.

"We are very excited about meeting the challenging six month contract-to-launch goal that the Air Force has set for us on the TacSat-2 mission. We are also pleased to be able to offer the Air Force exceptional value for these two critical missions that will be carried out within a one-year period aboard our proven and reliable Minotaur I launch vehicle. This selection serves as a testament to our demonstrated track record of success in terms of technical, schedule and cost performance. We have already assembled our launch team for the TacSat-2 mission and are looking forward to conducting the second Minotaur I launch of 2006." - Mr. Ron Grabe, Orbital's Executive Vice President and General Manager of its Launch Systems Group.

In April, six Orbital-designed FORMOSAT satellites were launched into low-Earth orbit aboard a Minotaur I rocket in a flawless mission that originated at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The TacSat-2 mission will be the sixth space launch of a Minotaur I rocket. All of the previous five missions have been fully successful.
The TacSat-2 and -3 satellites are two in a series of experimental spacecraft designed to demonstrate new technologies and capabilities for providing responsive space-based support of military operations. The TacSat series of satellites, plus the quick-reaction Minotaur I launches, are key parts of the U.S. government's effort to develop Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) systems. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Kirtland AFB, NM is leading the TacSat-2 and -3 joint development teams in partnerships that include space organizations from the Air Force, Navy and Army.

The rockets that will launch TacSat-2 and -3 satellites are the seventh and eighth Minotaur I space launch vehicles to be ordered by the USAF and are the 18th and 19th orders placed for the complete Minotaur family of launch vehicles.

Source

The SpaceX Falcon 1 was to launch TacSat-1, a small imaging satellite built by the Naval Research Laboratory.

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Blobrana


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Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) reached a significant operational milestone late last week when the company delivered its 500th space and launch system since the company was founded 23 years ago. As one of the most active developers of many types of satellites and rocket systems and the clear leader in the market for smaller-sized, more affordable and responsive space systems, Orbital have averaged one product delivery to customers every 17 days since 1982. The pace of operational activity has also been on a steep upward trajectory over the past decade, with 342 of the company’s 500 deliveries taking place in the last 10 years alone, or about one delivery every 10 days since mid-1995.

“We are very proud to have served our customers with numerous, innovative and reliable space and launch systems for the past 23 years. As one of only a handful of successful companies in the space and missiles industry born in the last several decades, Orbital’s 500th delivery is a special milestone for all those employees, past and present, who have contributed so much to meeting our customers’ needs.” - Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital’s co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Orbital achieved its 500th delivery when the company delivered and launched two Vandal short-range target vehicles for the U.S. Navy on Thursday, June 2. Included in the 500 space and launch vehicles that Orbital has designed, built and tested for a variety of government and commercial customers are these major types:

• 93 Satellites. Orbital’s satellite deliveries include 7 geosynchronous-orbit commercial communications spacecraft, 17 small- to medium-class (between 250 and 3,000 kg.) low-Earth orbit satellites and 69 micro satellites (under 250 kg.). These spacecraft were built for a range of national security, civil government and commercial customers in order to perform defence, space science, Earth observation, technology demonstration and fixed, mobile and broadcast communications missions.

• 25 Other Space Systems. Space system deliveries in this category include 10 major payloads aboard the Space Shuttle (including space support equipment for four Hubble servicing missions) and 15 major subsystems delivered to other satellite manufacturers.

• 66 Space and Interceptor Launch Vehicles. As the undisputed leader in the market for smaller-sized rocket systems, Orbital has built 39 Pegasus space and hypersonic research launch vehicles, 17 Orbital Boost Vehicle (OBV) missile defence interceptor boosters and 10 Taurus and Minotaur space launch vehicles.

• 107 Major Target Launch Vehicles. Used to test the U.S. theatre and national missile defence systems, Orbital has built and launched 10 long-range strategic target rockets and 97 medium-range tactical target rockets for a variety of U.S. military customers.

• 209 Other Small Rockets. Orbital has carried out a variety of scientific sounding rocket launches for NASA, universities and other research centres that now total 130 missions. Orbital has also emerged as the country’s leader in ramjet-powered, low-altitude targets for the U.S. Navy, having delivered 71 such systems over the last five years, as well as conducting eight other small targets and sounding rocket launches, primarily for the U.S. Department of Defence.


(source)

-- Edited by Blobrana at 20:10, 2005-06-07

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Two of Orbital Sciences Corporation facilities, including the company's headquarters, were searched by US federal investigators on Thursday as part of a probe into the aerospace company's contracting practices.
Agents from the Defence Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) executed search warrants at Orbital facilities in Dulles, Virginia, and Chandler, Arizona. The DCIS told employees of both facilities to go home as the investigation began.
The US government has released no details regarding the nature of the investigation.

"Orbital is one of the world’s leading developers and manufacturers of affordable space systems for commercial, civil government and military customers. The company’s primary products are satellites and launch vehicles, including geostationary and low-orbit spacecraft for communications, remote sensing and scientific missions; ground- and air-launched rockets that deliver satellites into orbit; and missile defence boosters that are used as interceptor and target vehicles. Orbital also offers space-related technical services to government agencies and develops and builds satellite-based transportation management systems for public transit agencies and private vehicle fleet operators."

Press release

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