NGL System Achieves Critical Milestone with Completion of Structural
Acceptance Test
DULLES, Va.Nov. 7, 2017--
Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense
technologies, announced it has successfully completed an important
milestone in developing advanced solid rocket propulsion and other
technologies to be used in a new generation of intermediate- and
large-class space launch vehicles. The company is in early production of
development hardware for its Next Generation Launch (NGL) system, and on
October 27 successfully completed the structural acceptance test on the
first motor high-strength composite case for this program.
Orbital ATK successfully completed the structural acceptance test on the first motor high-strength composite case for its Next Generation Launch system. (Photo: Business Wire)
The applied structural loads during the test demonstrated over 110
percent of maximum expected motor operating pressure and 110 percent of
operational/flight and pre-launch compressive/tensile line loads. This
full-scale motor case segment will be cast with inert solid rocket
propellant in early 2018 and shipped to the launch site for check-out of
ground operations.
NGL is one of Orbital ATK s top growth initiatives, said Scott Lehr,
President of Orbital ATK s Flight Systems Group. This milestone clearly
shows the progress being made by the hundreds of engineers and
technicians in Utah and Arizona who are developing the NGL system.
Orbital ATK s NGL rocket family will be capable of launching the entire
spectrum of national security payloads, as well as science and
commercial satellites that are too large to be launched by the company s
current Pegasus , Minotaur and AntaresTM space
launch vehicles. The NGL vehicles will share common propulsion,
structures and avionics systems with other company programs, including
smaller space launch vehicles as well as missile defense interceptors,
target vehicles and strategic missile systems.
By sharing a skilled workforce, facilities and subsystems across
multiple programs, we ve designed NGL to be affordable and reliable,
said Lehr. For example, NGL uses common avionics that have flown on
more than 100 missions with 100 percent success.
The next phase of the program is expected to begin when the Air Force
awards the Launch Services Agreement in mid-2018, which would entail
full vehicle and launch site development, with work taking place at
company facilities in Promontory and Magna, Utah; Iuka, Mississippi;
Chandler, Arizona; Kennedy Space Center, Florida; and Vandenberg Air
Force Base, California.
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:
Kay Anderson, 435-230-2787
Propulsion
Systems Division Public Relations
kay.anderson@orbitalatk.com
or
Investor
Contact:
Barron Beneski, 703-406-5528
Public and Investor
Relations
barron.beneski@orbitalatk.com