Orbital concevra la prochaine "Little Joe"

http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/release.asp?prid=605

Orbital To Provide Abort Test Booster For NASA Testing

-- Company to be Responsible for the Design, Production and Flight of Boost
Vehicle to Verify Astronaut Safety System --

-- Initial Three-Year Contract from U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Space Development and Test Wing Valued at Approximately $35 Million; Contract Also Includes $45 Million of Options for Additional Test Flights and Spare Vehicles --

(Dulles, VA 11 April 2007) -- Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) today announced that it has been selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Air Force Space Development and Test Wing (SDTW) to design and build the next-generation NASA Orion Abort Test Booster (ATB). The contract was awarded under SDTW's Sounding Rockets Program 2 (SRP-2) contract, which allows the use of surplus government boosters to reduce launch vehicle cost for U.S. Government-sponsored missions.

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