Orbital ATK Successfully Launches NASA’s CYGNSS Spacecraft Aboard Pegasus Rocket
December 15 2016 - 11:30AM
Business Wire
Launch Marks the 43rd Flight
of the World’s First Commercial Rocket
Air-Launched Pegasus Rocket Deployed from
Company’s “Stargazer” L-1011 Carrier Aircraft
Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense
technologies, today announced that its Pegasus® rocket successfully
launched the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS)
satellite for NASA. The successful launch was the 29th consecutive
successful mission for the Pegasus rocket since 1997 and the 43rd
overall flight of the world’s first privately developed commercial
rocket.
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Orbital ATK's Pegasus Rocket Successfully
Launched NASA's CYGNSS Weather Monitoring Spacecraft on December
15, 2016. (Photo: Business Wire)
“We are proud to provide another successful Pegasus launch for
our NASA customer,” said Rich Straka, Vice President and General
Manager of Orbital ATK’s Launch Vehicles Division. “Congratulations
to the NASA CYGNSS and Orbital ATK teams on another great
mission.”
Pegasus is the leading launch system for the deployment of small
satellites into low-Earth orbit. As the only NASA Launch Services
Category 3 vehicle in the small-launch class, Pegasus is certified
to launch NASA’s most valuable satellites.
The CYGNSS constellation of eight satellites is a NASA Earth
System Science Pathfinder Mission that will collect space‐based
measurements of the inner core of tropical cyclones. The CYGNSS
constellation will provide scientists and meteorologists with the
data necessary to improve tropical cyclone forecasting and tracking
methods.
For the first phase of the launch, CYGNSS and the Pegasus rocket
were carried into the atmosphere beneath Orbital ATK's "Stargazer"
L-1011 carrier aircraft. They were released from the plane at
approximately 39,000 feet, and then the Pegasus motors ignited,
carrying CYGNSS to its intended 35 degree orbit so the
constellation will be able to survey the mid latitudes where most
cyclones form.
As an air-launched system, Pegasus has unparalleled flexibility
to operate from virtually anywhere on Earth with minimal ground
support requirements. This was the first Pegasus mission in 12
years to launch from Cape Canaveral. Pegasus missions have been
conducted from six separate sites in the U.S., Europe and the
Marshall Islands.
“As a vertically integrated launch system, Pegasus combines key
Orbital ATK strengths from multiple locations across the company,”
said Scott Lehr, President of Orbital ATK’s Flight Systems
Group.
The vehicle’s avionics and control systems, solid rocket motors,
and composite structures are manufactured at Orbital ATK facilities
in Chandler, Arizona; Dulles, Virginia; Vandenberg Air Force Base,
California; and Bacchus and Clearfield, Utah.
The solid rocket motors used on Pegasus have also been used in
more than 110 other Orbital ATK-built launch vehicles. These
include the company’s Orbital Boost Vehicle (OBV) missile defense
interceptors, IRBM- and ICBM-class target vehicles, Minotaur space
launch vehicles and Hyper-X hypersonic test boosters.
About Orbital ATK
Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense
technologies. The company designs, builds and delivers space,
defense and aviation systems for customers around the world, both
as a prime contractor and merchant supplier. Its main products
include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile
products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons,
armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space
components and services; and advanced aerospace structures.
Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Orbital ATK employs
approximately 12,000 people in 18 states across the U.S. and in
several international locations. For more information, visit
www.orbitalatk.com.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161215005972/en/
Pegasus Media Contact:Trina Helquist, 801-699-0943Launch
Vehicles Division Public RelationsOrbital
ATKtrina.helquist@orbitalatk.comorInvestor Contact:Barron
Beneski, 703-406-5528Public and Investor RelationsOrbital
ATKbarron.beneski@orbitalatk.com
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