Orbital Set to Launch Company-built IBEX Scientific Spacecraft for NASA Aboard Pegasus Rocket
Company to Carry Out First of Three "Dual" Missions Scheduled Over
the Next Nine Months as both Satellite Manufacturer and Launch
Services Provider in Support of NASA's Science Satellite Programs
Equatorial Launch from Kwajalein Atoll to Reach the Highest Apogee
Ever for a Pegasus Mission; IBEX Satellite's Highly Elliptical Orbit
to Reach 80% of the Distance to the Moon
DULLES, Va.--(Business Wire)--
Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) today announced that it
is in final preparations to launch the Interstellar Boundary Explorer
(IBEX) satellite that the company designed, manufactured and tested at
its Dulles, VA production facilities. The targeted launch date is
Sunday, October 19, which is subject to final pre-launch preparations
and testing activities at the launch site, as well as acceptable
weather conditions at the time of the launch. The IBEX satellite will
be launched aboard Orbital's Pegasus(R) air-launched rocket in a
mission that will originate from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall
Islands located near the Equator in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The
available launch window for the IBEX mission extends from 1:44 p.m. to
1:51 p.m. (EDT).
The powered flight sequence for the IBEX mission is expected to
take approximately eight minutes, from the time the Pegasus rocket is
released from the L-1011 carrier aircraft to the time that the
satellite and its flight system is deployed into its initial orbit.
Afterward, the IBEX satellite will use a combination solid rocket
motor and hydrazine propulsion system to reach its final high-altitude
elliptical orbit beyond the Earth's magnetosphere.
The IBEX mission will be followed in 2009 by two other "dual"
missions involving an Orbital-built scientific satellite and an
Orbital-supplied launch vehicle. In early 2009, the Orbiting Carbon
Observatory (OCO) Earth science satellite will be launched aboard the
company's Taurus(R) ground-launched rocket. Later in 2009, another
Orbital-built Earth science satellite known as Glory will be launched
aboard a Taurus rocket. Both missions will originate from Vandenberg
Air Force Base, CA.
About the IBEX Mission
For the IBEX program, Orbital is teamed with the Southwest
Research Institute's (SwRI) Principal Investigator Dr. David McComas.
The IBEX mission is funded through the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration's (NASA) Small Explorers (SMEX) science satellite
program, which is managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, MD.
The mission of the IBEX satellite program is to make the first
comprehensive map of the boundary between the Solar System and
interstellar space, where hot solar winds collide with the cold
expanse of space. Measuring this interstellar interaction is important
for understanding man's protection from galactic cosmic rays, which
are energetic particles from beyond the Solar System that could pose
health risks to future astronauts exploring deep space.
To gather this data, the IBEX satellite will orbit the Earth every
eight days on a highly elliptical path that will take it to an apogee
of about 200,000 miles (320,000 km), which is approximately 80% of the
distance to the Moon, and a perigee of about 4,400 miles above the
Earth. It will use two narrow-band image sensors (IBEX-Hi and
IBEX-Low) to detect neutral atoms, enabling Dr. McComas and his
scientific team to map the boundary between the Solar System and
interstellar space.
About the Pegasus Rocket
Pegasus is the world's leading launch system for the deployment of
small satellites into low-Earth orbit. Its patented air-launch system,
in which the rocket is launched from beneath Orbital's "Stargazer"
L-1011 carrier aircraft over the ocean, reduces cost and provides
customers with unparalleled flexibility to operate from virtually
anywhere on Earth with minimal ground support requirements. The IBEX
mission will be the 40th flight of the Pegasus rocket since its debut
in 1990.
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 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 government agencies
and laboratories.
More information about Orbital can be found at
http://www.orbital.com
Note to Editors:
-- More information about the Pegasus rocket is available on
Orbital's web site at:
-- http://www.orbital.com/SpaceLaunch/Pegasus/
-- High-resolution images of the Pegasus rocket are available on
Orbital's web site at:
-- http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/Images
-- For more information about the IBEX mission information, visit
the following web sites:
-- http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ibex/index.html
-- http://ibex.swri.edu/
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Barron Beneski, 703-406-5528
Public and Investor Relations
beneski.barron@orbital.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
