Wed, Apr 27, 2011
ATK Receives $57 Million Deal From Orbital For Upgraded Castor
30XL
ATK has been awarded a $57 million contract to provide the
Castor 30XL, an upgraded second stage motor for Orbital Science
Corporation's Taurus II commercial launch vehicle, which will
supply cargo for NASA to the International Space Station.
The Castor 30XL is a larger and higher-performance solid rocket
motor, with greater payload capability than the Castor 30A, which
is used on the current configuration of the Taurus II. "The Castor
30XL is another important addition to our expanding portfolio of
commercial propulsion products, which include the GEM, Orion, and
Castor solid rocket motor lines." said Scott Lehr, ATK Aerospace
Systems vice president and general manager of Strategic and
Commercial Systems. "We leveraged our heritage flight-proven and
cost-effective technologies to develop a customized,
higher-performing second stage solution for Orbital's Taurus II
launch vehicle."
The first two test flights of the Taurus II will use the
original Castor 30A configuration, the next two flights will use a
higher-performing Castor 30B motor, while the Castor 30XL will be
used after the first four flights.
Orbital's Taurus II medium-class launch vehicle is slated to
perform commercial cargo re-supply missions to the International
Space Station (ISS) for NASA. It will be demonstrated under the
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program and put
into service under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS)
contract.
"We have had a long and successful history of working with
Orbital as their solid propulsion provider. We are very pleased to
be able to provide an upgraded stage to support their critical NASA
COTS and CRS programs, as well as other NASA, DoD and Commercial
mission requirements" said Lehr.
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