NASA Selects Orbital to Demonstrate New Commercial Cargo Delivery System for the International Space Station
-- ISS Cargo System Includes New Cygnus(TM) Maneuvering
Spacecraft, Interchangeable Cargo Modules and Taurus II Medium-Lift
Launch Vehicle --
-- Initial COTS Demonstration Mission Scheduled for Fourth Quarter
of 2010 --
DULLES, Va.--(Business Wire)--
Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE:ORB) announced today that it
has been selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) to demonstrate a new space transportation system for delivering
cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). In a three-year, $320
million cooperative program, NASA will invest $170 million and Orbital
will contribute $150 million (including its planned Taurus II launch
vehicle development investment) in the Commercial Orbital
Transportation Services (COTS) project. In its first phase, the COTS
project will involve the development and flight demonstration of a
commercial cargo delivery system to low Earth orbit with the potential
to support ISS operations following the retirement of the Space
Shuttle in 2010. This system will consist of a new advanced
maneuvering spacecraft called Cygnus(TM), along with several
interchangeable modules for pressurized and unpressurized cargo, and
will be launched on Orbital's new Taurus II medium-lift rocket.
"The COTS project is strategically important to both NASA and
Orbital," said Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital's Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer. "For NASA, the ability to deliver cargo to the
International Space Station with reasonably priced commercial services
is part of its long-term plan to rely on American industry for routine
Earth-orbit operations, as the space agency focuses on returning
astronauts to the Moon and beyond. For Orbital, the COTS project is a
critical element of the company's strategy to play an expanded role in
human spaceflight programs, including ISS operations and the
development and support of NASA's Orion program."
Orbital's COTS demonstration mission is scheduled to take place in
the fourth quarter of 2010. Subject to NASA's future requirements,
Orbital will be prepared to carry out several follow-on operational
COTS missions in 2011 and to conduct as many as eight operational ISS
cargo flights a year by 2012 and 2013. The Cygnus spacecraft to be
launched aboard the Taurus II rocket will be capable of delivering up
to 2,300 kg of cargo to the ISS and will be able to return 1,200 kg of
cargo from the ISS to Earth.
The COTS project will provide NASA with a U.S.-produced and
-operated automated cargo delivery service for ISS support, to
complement Russian, European and Japanese cargo vehicles. In addition,
the COTS project will help facilitate the introduction of Taurus II, a
new medium-class launch vehicle that can be used by NASA and other
government agencies and private-sector satellite operators for a
variety of scientific, national defense and commercial space missions.
"By serving as an anchor mission for Orbital's Taurus II rocket,
the COTS project will not only benefit NASA's ISS operations with
reliable commercial cargo service once the system is fully
operational, but will also aid NASA's Earth and space science and
planetary exploration programs with lower-cost launches of
medium-class satellites," said Dr. Antonio L. Elias, Executive Vice
President and General Manager of Orbital's Advanced Programs Group,
which leads a company-wide team developing the Taurus II launch
vehicle and the Cygnus spacecraft.
Orbital currently plans to carry out the development, production
and integration of the Cygnus spacecraft and cargo modules at company
facilities in Dulles, Virginia and Greenbelt, Maryland. The company's
design, manufacturing and testing activities related to the Taurus II
rocket will be done in Dulles and Chandler, Arizona. Early COTS
missions are planned to be launched from NASA's Wallops Flight
Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore, with integrated mission
operations conducted from control centers in Dulles and Houston,
Texas.
About Orbital
Orbital develops and manufactures small 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 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 offers space-related technical services to
government agencies and develops and builds software-based
transportation management systems for public transit agencies and
private vehicle fleet operators.
Note to Editors:
-- High-resolution images of the Cygnus spacecraft and Taurus II
space launch vehicle are available to be downloaded from
Orbital's web site at:
http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/ImagesMultimedia/Images/Explor
ationSystems/index.shtml (Due to its length, this URL may need
to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address
field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Barron Beneski, 703-406-5528
Public and Investor Relations
beneski.barron@orbital.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
