A satellite that Orbital ATK built for NASA’s Astrophysics Explorer mission lifted off Wednesday aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite is designed to identify planets nearby host stars to facilitate characterizations of those planets and their atmospheres through the use of four wide-field cameras, […] More

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 2021, the company said Monday. […] More

Orbital ATK has hired 1,000 additional employees and expanded several weapons facilities to increase production capacity as it expects a rise in the demand for munitions and missiles from the Defense Department in the next few years, Defense News reported Wednesday. “We have invested a decent number of millions, tens of millions, in a number of […] More

NASA will test a supersonic parachute system for potential use in future Mars missions through the launch of a suborbital sounding rocket supported by Orbital ATK under a contract from the space agency’s Heliophysics Division. Orbital ATK has received the NASA Sounding Rocket Operations contract and will provide mission planning, engineering and field operations services […] More

Orbital ATK has received the green light to begin development work on NASA’s land remote sensing satellite designed to gather space-based images and data that can support agriculture, disaster relief and land use mapping research efforts. The company said Thursday the approval came after it completed a critical design review, which showed that the Landsat […] More

Orbital ATK supplied composite structures, motors and other components for a Delta IV rocket that United Launch Alliance launched Friday to bring a National Reconnaissance Office payload into space. Orbital ATK said Friday the Boeing–Lockheed Martin joint venture’s Delta IV rocket that took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as part of the NROL-47 national defense mission has […] More

Intelsat has awarded Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA) a contract to build a communications satellite based on the latter company’s GEOStar-2 platform. Orbital ATK said Monday it will design, construct and test Intelsat’s future Galaxy 30  satellite at a Dulles, Virginia-based manufacturing facility. “Galaxy 30 will be the 11th satellite Orbital ATK has built for Intelsat, and […] More

Orbital ATK plans to use its Cygnus spacecraft to perform two cargo delivery missions this year to the International Space Station under the first Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA, NASASpaceflight.com reported Friday. The ninth ISS cargo supply mission, dubbed OA-9, is set to take off in May aboard the Orbital ATK-built Antares rocket from […] More

Orbital ATK has secured a contract from Intelsat to produce, test and launch a second commercial in-space servicing vehicle designed to extend the life of in-orbit satellites. Orbital ATK said Thursday it will start providing satellite servicing support through the Mission Extension Vehicle 2 by mid-2020 under the contract. The Dulles, Virginia-based aerospace and defense […] More

An Orbital ATK-built Cygnus spacecraft re-entered Earth’s atmosphere Monday at 7:54 a.m. Eastern time after it delivered approximately 7,400 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station and completed secondary space missions. The re-entry of the spacecraft, also known as S. S. Gene Cernan, marked the conclusion of Orbital ATK’s eighth ISS cargo supply mission under its Commercial Resupply […] More

An Orbital ATK-built spacecraft is scheduled to depart the International Space Station on Wednesday after a cargo delivery effort to perform secondary missions. NASA said Friday Cygnus will be detached from ISS’ Unity module with the Canadarm2 robotic arm, then the vehicle will be maneuvered over the Harmony module to collect data that will support future rendezvous and docking […] More

Orbital ATK has transported a hybrid electric propulsion communications satellite built for Al Yah Satellite Communications to a launch site in Kourou, French Guiana, ahead of the system’s intended liftoff in January 2018. Orbital ATK said Thursday it built the GEOStar-3 satellite designated Al Yah 3 to help expand Yahsat’s commercial Ka-band services to approximately 600 million […] More