Tag: Orbital ATK

  • TESS’s planet hunt begins

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    Artist’s concept of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Credit: NASA NASA’s newest observatory in space has started its search for planets around other stars, officials said Friday, as astronomers zero in on worlds that are ripe for research by follow-up missions like the James Webb Space Telescope. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite officially began a…

  • Scientists thrilled with closer views of Ceres’ famous salty crater

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    This mosaic of a prominent mound located on the western side of Cerealia Facula was obtained by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft on June 22, 2018, from an altitude of about 21 miles (34 kilometers). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA Fresh pictures from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft have provided the sharpest glimpse yet of the bright salt deposits discovered inside a…

  • Northrop Grumman completes Orbital ATK acquisition

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    File photo of an Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus spacecraft, developed by Orbital ATK to haul cargo to the International Space Station. Photo credit: Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman concluded its purchase of Orbital ATK on Wednesday, with the absorption of launch vehicle developer, satellite manufacturer, and munitions supplier as a new business unit named Northrop…

  • Pegasus rocket, NASA satellite head for launch base in Pacific

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    The Pegasus XL rocket, fastened underneath an L-1011 carrier plane, took off Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, en route to Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News Slung under the belly of a specially-equipped carrier airplane, a Northrop Grumman Pegasus rocket took off Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base…

  • NASA’s new planet-hunting satellite begins climb into science orbit

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    Artist’s illustration of TESS in space. Credit: NASA/Goddard Looping back near Earth for the first time since its launch one week ago, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite fired its thrusters early Wednesday to begin boosting its orbit toward the moon for a May 17 gravity assist maneuver that will help catapult the probe into its…

  • After “terrific” launch, TESS nears first major orbit-raising burn

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    Artist’s concept of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite in orbit. Credit: Orbital ATK NASA’s new planet-hunting TESS observatory completed its first post-launch thruster firing Saturday, setting up for a big boost Wednesday that will send the spacecraft toward the moon for a flyby next month, the next maneuvers in a two-month process to reach the…

  • Orbital ATK names new launcher, selects upper stage engine

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    Artist’s illustration of Orbital ATK’s proposed OmegA rocket. Credit: Orbital ATK Orbital ATK’s proposed rocket to answer the U.S. Air Force’s desire for two families of satellite launchers with U.S.-made propulsion systems will be named OmegA, and the company has selected the cryogenic Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engine to power the vehicle’s upper stage, officials announced…

  • Video: Mission officials brief reporters on TESS launch

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    Officials from NASA, research institutions and companies involved in the development and launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite briefed reporters in the mission Sunday, the day before its scheduled liftoff from Cape Canaveral. The two briefings focused on the TESS mission, spacecraft, launch and scientific objectives.

  • Orbital ATK confident new rocket will win Air Force support

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    EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 13. Artist’s concept of Orbital ATK’s Next Generation Launch system in flight. Credit: Orbital ATK Orbital ATK’s bid to join the U.S. military’s roster of rockets to haul the most critical national security satellites into orbit faces stiff competition from entrenched launch providers and billionaire entrepreneurs, but the company is confident…

  • SpaceX rocket test-fired at Cape Canaveral for NASA telescope launch

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    SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, without its payload fairing or the satellite passenger, fired its nine Merlin 1D booster engines for several seconds Wednesday at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now SpaceX’s launch team loaded super-chilled liquid propellants into a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday and fired the booster’s nine first stage…