Company s ESPAStar Platform Demonstrates Capability to Deliver
Flexible, Affordable Access to Space
Contract Adds to Rapid Growth in ESPAStar Orders for Customer Missions
DULLES, Va.Dec. 11, 2017--
Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense
technologies, today announced it has been awarded a contract from the
U.S. Air Force Space and Missiles Center (AFSMC) to build LDPE, or the
Long Duration Propulsive Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV)
Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) space platform. The innovative
platform, positioned between the launch booster and a primary space
vehicle, is used to carry small payloads or deploy small satellites.
Under the contract, Orbital ATK will design and manufacture the LDPE
using its ESPAStar platform. The award includes the initial LDPE, plus
options for two additional systems and adds to the rapidly growing
production of ESPAStars that support a wide variety of customer missions.
Orbital ATK's ESPAStar Platform provides a modular, cost-effective, and highly capable infrastructure resource for hosting technology development and operational payloads. (Photo: Business Wire)
ESPAStar uses a modified EELV Secondary Payload Adapter ring as its
structure and is capable of being launched aboard any launch vehicle
that meets the EELV standard interface specification. It provides a
modular, cost effective and highly capable platform for hosting
technology development and operational payloads. ESPAStar leverages work
performed on the company-designed ESPA Augmented Geostationary
Laboratory Experiment (EAGLE), which successfully demonstrated similar
technology for the U.S. Air Force. In addition to EAGLE, two ESPAStars
are currently in production for other customers.
ESPAStar s game-changing capability is another example of Orbital ATK s
ability to deliver innovative products that fill a need for our
customers, said Mike Larkin, Vice President and General Manager for
Orbital ATK s Satellite Systems Division. Based on Orbital ATK s
flight-proven GEOStar product line the new ESPAStar technology will
provide a cost-effective ride to space for secondary payloads and offers
maximum flexibility for orbit locations and deployment.
ESPAStar provides power, pointing, telemetry, command and control for
attached payloads or for small satellites that can be deployed from the
vehicle. Built to provide an even greater level of access to space,
Orbital ATK s ESPAStar can accommodate any combination of up to six
hosted or 12 separable, free-flyer payloads in low and geosynchronous
orbit.
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 13,000 people across the U.S. and in several
international locations. For more information, visit www.orbitalatk.com.
Source: Orbital ATK
Orbital ATK
Media Contact:
Kristen Basham, 703-404-7476
Group
Lead Public Relations
kristen.basham@orbitalatk.com
or
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Relations
barron.beneski@orbitalatk.com