-- Carbon Dioxide-Measuring Spacecraft for NASA Set to Launch on
-- OCO-2 Is 151st Orbital-Built Satellite Delivered to Government and Commercial Customers Around the World --
We want to thank JPL for its confidence in Orbital on this important
mission, which will help scientists understand the sources of carbon
dioxide emissions and the natural process that removes it from the
atmosphere, said Mr.
Following its deployment, the OCO-2 satellite will undergo several weeks
of in-orbit testing to verify that all major subsystems are operating as
planned. Once testing is complete, the spacecraft will be commanded to
maneuver into a 438-mile altitude, near-polar orbit with five other
scientific satellites as part of the Afternoon (A-Train) Constellation.
This international constellation of Earth-observing satellites circles
the globe once every 98 minutes in a Sun-synchronous orbit that crosses
the equator near
Orbital will perform the day-to-day mission operations of OCO-2 for JPL
from the company s
Orbital s newest satellite delivery represents the 151st spacecraft the company has completed for customers in the past 32 years, spanning the global commercial, civil government and military and intelligence space systems markets. Of these, 78 have carried out commercial communications and imaging missions and 73 have supported government scientific, national security and space exploration missions. Orbital-built satellites have now amassed approximately 1,100 years of in-orbit experience, a number that will continue to grow as the company is scheduled to deploy up to nine spacecraft in 2014 for commercial communications, space station logistics, scientific research and national security missions.
About Orbital
Orbital develops and manufactures small- and medium-class rockets and
space systems for commercial, military and civil government customers.
The company s primary products are satellites and launch vehicles,
including low-Earth orbit, geosynchronous-Earth orbit and planetary
exploration spacecraft for communications, remote sensing, scientific
and defense missions; human-rated space systems for Earth-orbit, lunar
and other missions; ground- and air-launched rockets that deliver
satellites into orbit; and missile defense systems that are used as
interceptor and target vehicles. Orbital also provides satellite
subsystems and space-related technical services to
Source:
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Barron Beneski, 703-406-5528
Public
and Investor Relations
beneski.barron@orbital.com