News Archive / Tagged: Orbital ATK

• “…We shall return!” S.S. Gene Cernan lifts off from MARS’ Pad 0A

  Jason RhianNovember 12th, 2017

  WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY, Va. — With no wayward pilots to ruin their efforts, NASA and Orbital ATK sent the S.S. Gene Cernan (Cygnus CRS OA-8E) to orbit atop an Antares rocket from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at 7:19 a.m. EST (12:19 GMT) on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017, on the OA-8 mission bound for the International Space Station.

• SFI LIVE: Orbital ATK Antares with OA-8 Cygnus

  Jason RhianNovember 11th, 2017

  WALLOPS ISLAND, Va., -- NASA and Orbital ATK are planning to launch the S.S. Gene Cernan, OA-8 Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station atop an Antares 230 rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad 0A sometime in a five minute long launch window that opens at 7:37 a.m. EST on Saturday, Nov. 11. SpaceFlight Insider's exclusive Live Show will begin at 7 a.m. EST.

• Minotaur-C scheduled for Vandenberg launch on October 31

  Paul KnightlyOctober 25th, 2017

  Six SkySat imaging satellites are now set to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California this coming Tuesday, Oct. 31, at 2:37 p.m. PDT. The launch will utilize an Orbital ATK Minotaur-C rocket.

• Gallery: Cygnus OA-8 named after late Moonwalker

  Derek RichardsonOctober 21st, 2017

  WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. — The next Cygnus spacecraft bound for the International Space Station has a name: The S.S. Gene Cernan. Liftoff of the soda can-shaped spacecraft is currently scheduled for 7:37 a.m. EDT (11:37 GMT) on Nov. 11, 2017.

• Orbital ATK eyeing new date for Minotaur-C launch with SkySat

  Jason RhianOctober 12th, 2017

  Wanting a chance to further verify and carry out routine testing of their Minotaur-C rocket, the Dulles, Virginia-based firm Orbital ATK announced on Wednesday, October 11, 2017, that it has requested a later launch date for the solid-propellant fueled rocket. At present, a new launch date is not available. 

• Insider Exclusive: The people and parts of NASA’s EM-1 mission

  Jason RhianOctober 1st, 2017

  PROMONTORY, Utah — NASA is eyeing a 2019 launch for its new super-heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. While some of the systems are so-called legacy hardware, they have never been flown in this configuration without a side-mounted shuttle and with a mandate to take crews far beyond low-Earth orbit. For each mission, NASA is not only relying on the parts to guarantee its astronauts travel safely to these distant destinations but also people who work every day to ensure these components are as reliable as possible.

• MEV-1 working to expand spaceflight revolution, extend on-orbit operations

  Jason RhianSeptember 19th, 2017

  It was once believed that the first stage of a rocket couldn't return to the launch site. On Dec. 22, 2015, this was shown not to be so. At the close of the Shuttle era, another long-held line of thinking was also shown to be outmoded. Now, Orbital ATK is working to expand efforts to have satellites be refueled and repaired while on orbit.

• Reports: Purchase of Orbital ATK by Northrop Grumman could be imminent

  Jason RhianSeptember 18th, 2017

  Reports appearing on Reuters, Bloomberg, and elsewhere are noting that Dulles, Virginia-based Orbital ATK could be purchased by defense contractor Northrop Grumman. The buyout could take place as early as Monday, Sept. 18. If this takes place, it would be just the latest merger stretching back to the earliest days of the Space Age.

• Orbital ATK launches ORS-5 space surveillance satellite atop Minotaur IV

  Curt GodwinAugust 26th, 2017

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The Operationally Responsive Space 5 (ORS-5) spacecraft, alternately known as SensorSat, lifted off on an Orbital ATK Minotaur IV rocket at 2:04 a.m. EDT (06:04 GMT) Aug. 26, 2017, from long-dormant Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on the Florida coast. The satellite was placed into a low-Earth orbit (LEO).

• SFI LIVE: USAF’s ORS-5 mission atop Orbital ATK Minotaur IV

  Jason RhianAugust 25th, 2017

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Orbital ATK is poised to launch one of the company’s Minotaur IV rockets from Cape Canaveral's SLC-46 in Florida on Friday, Aug. 25. The payload for this mission is the U.S. Air Force’s ORS-5 spacecraft, which will monitor satellites and debris to aid the U.S. military’s space situational awareness. SFI's Live Show will begin NET 12:30 a.m. EDT (04:30 GMT on Aug. 26).

• USAF and Orbital ATK prepare for launch of ORS-5 mission

  Jason RhianAugust 23rd, 2017

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — With its Flight Readiness Review complete, an Orbital ATK Minotaur IV rocket sits poised to launch the U.S. Air Force’s Operationally Responsive Space (ORS)-5 satellite. ORS-5 is set to take to the skies from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex-46 (SLC-46) in Florida atop a Minotaur IV rocket late on August 25.

• US Geological Survey’s Landsat 9 satellite progressing toward 2020 launch

  Jason RhianAugust 10th, 2017

  The U.S. Geological Survey's Landsat 9 spacecraft is making steady progress toward its planned launch in December of 2020. If everything goes as currently planned, the satellite will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The contract to produce the spacecraft was awarded in 2016 and will mark the continuation of a program that can trace its lineage back 45 years. 

• SLS ‘racing stripes’ replaced with photogrammetry targets

  Heather SmithAugust 8th, 2017

  Dulles, Virginia-based Orbital ATK has cast ten solid rocket booster (SRB) segments for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS). Four of those segments have been completed at the company's facilities in Promontory, Utah, and painted with photogrammetric markings. Two five-segment boosters will be used to help power the super-heavy-lift vehicle into orbit as early as 2019 – but what happened to the rocket's "racing stripes"?

• 2017 Oshkosh air show puts ‘space’ in Aerospace

  Jason RhianAugust 6th, 2017

  OSHKOSH, Wis. — When one thinks of air shows, images of sleek fighter planes, aerial acrobats spinning plumes of smoke, and old warbirds majestically flying past spectators spring to mind. However, with ever-increasing regularity, spacecraft and astronauts are becoming key participants in these shows. The recent EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017 air show was no exception.

• OPINION: Is there inconsistency in how NASA treats its private partners?

  Jason RhianJuly 23rd, 2017

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A recent report noted that NASA will not be releasing a public report on the findings of the SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-7 explosion. The report also denotes that a previous similar accident was handled differently by NASA, but were the two accidents so distinct as to warrant two totally dissimilar approaches?