General Atomics’ electromagnetic systems business has expanded its presence in Colorado with a new facility focused on spacecraft manufacturing, integration and testing.
Read More »Mike Laidley: Northrop’s OmegA Rocket Booster Work Could Benefit NASA’s SLS
A Northrop Grumman official told NASASpaceflight in an interview published Monday the company sees “a lot of synergies” between the Common Booster Segments for the OmegA rocket and the solid rocket boosters for NASA’s Space Launch System. “And there’s a lot of benefit to NASA from a cost perspective on …
Read More »Northrop Propels First Motor Segment of New Heavy-Lift Rocket
Northrop Grumman has casted the first live motor segment of a new rocket designed for intermediate- and heavy-lift launches. The company said Wednesday it developed the CASTOR 600 segment under the Common Boost Segment program that aims to address requirements of the new OmegA rocket. The rocket is intended to comply …
Read More »Report: Air Force to Award Next Set of Commercial Launch Service Agreements
The U.S. Air Force could award a new set of Launch Service Agreements sometime during August, one month later than scheduled, SpaceNews reported Wednesday. The military service aims to select two domestic commercial launch service providers that can cover national security missions and send heavy and complex payloads to space. Northrop Grumman‘s innovation …
Read More »Aerojet Rocketdyne to Continue Rocket Engine Development for Air Force EELV Program
Aerojet Rocketdyne has received a $69.8 million modification under the company’s “other transaction” agreement with the U.S. Air Force to produce engines for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. The Defense Department said Friday it expects the engine manufacturer to complete work on the AR1 booster engine on Dec. 31, 2019, …
Read More »Orbital ATK Wraps Up Casting Process of ‘OmegA’ Rocket’s 1st Motor Segment
Orbital ATK has completed casting the first motor of the OmegA rocket with approximately 55 600-gallon mixes of inert propellant. The company said Tuesday it wrapped up the casting process in April for the Castor 600 aft segment as part of the Common Boost Segment program for OmegA, previously called …
Read More »Orbital ATK Unveils ‘OmegA’ Rocket for Air Force EELV Program at Space Symposium
Orbital ATK has introduced a new rocket the company built for the U.S. Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program at the 34th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The OmegA rocket is Orbital ATK’s Next Generation Launch System that is set for ground tests in 2019 and initial launch in …
Read More »Jim Centore: Blue Origin to Continue BE-4 Rocket Engine Tests
Jim Centore, group lead for orbital mission operations at Blue Origin, has said the company started to run tests on its BE-4 rocket engine in October 2017 at its facility in West Texas and will continue the testing phase over the next several months, SpaceNews reported Saturday. “We’re getting longer …
Read More »Aerojet Rocketdyne Equipment Supports NRO Natl Defense Payload Launch
Aerojet Rocketdyne supplied equipment to support the deployment of a classified National Reconnaissance Office satellite which flew onboard a United Launch Alliance-built Delta IV rocket. The NROL-47 national defense mission satellite was launched with the help of an Aerojet Rocketdyne-developed RS-68A booster engine, RL10B-2 upper stage engine, 14 helium pressurization tanks and …
Read More »ULA’s Delta IV Sends NRO National Defense Payload to Space
A National Reconnaissance Office payload lifted off Friday at 2:11 p.m. Pacific time aboard a United Launch Alliance-built Delta IV rocket as part of the NROL-47 national defense mission. Will Crawford, NRO program manager at ULA, said in a statement published Friday the payload’s launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California marks the Boeing–Lockheed Martin joint venture’s 27th NRO …
Read More »SpaceX Gets USAF Contract Modification to Continue Rocket Engine Tech Devt
Space Exploration Technologies has received a $40.8 million contract modification to further develop a rocket propulsion system prototype for the U.S. Air Force‘s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. The Defense Department said Thursday SpaceX will continue development of the Raptor engine technology through April 30, 2018, under the modification. USAF awarded the company a $61.4 million …
Read More »ULA’s Atlas V Carries NRO Natl Security Payload to Orbit
United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, has deployed a National Reconnaissance Office payload into space aboard its Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The NROL-52 payload lifted off Sunday at 3:28 a.m. Eastern time to support NRO’s national security mission, ULA said Sunday. The …
Read More »Air Force Seeks Proposals for 5 Satellite Launches Under EELV Program
The U.S. Air Force has issued a request for proposals for five launch services contracts to support the deployment of three Lockheed Martin-built GPS III satellites and the Air Force Space Command’s satellites 8 and 12 into space, Space News reported Wednesday. Claire Leon, director of the launch enterprise directorate …
Read More »ULA’s Atlas V Rocket Sends NRO Payload Into Space
The Lockheed Martin–Boeing joint venture United Launch Alliance has launched a National Reconnaissance Office payload aboard an Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Calfornia. ULA said Wednesday the Atlas V lifted off with the NROL-79 payload at 12:50 p.m. Eastern time as part of NRO’s national defense mission. …
Read More »Air Force Sends Lockheed-Built SBIRS GEO 3 Satellite Into Space
A third Lockheed Martin-built missile warning satellite launched atop United Launch Alliance‘s Atlas V evolved expendable launch vehicle Friday evening from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit satellite is designed to provide battlespace awareness efforts of U.S. combatant commanders, intelligence organizations and allies globally, …
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