Orbital Sciences Corporation: Difference between revisions

Orbital Sciences Corporation
	File:Orbital Sciences.gif
Company type	Public (NYSE: ORB)
Industry	Aerospace and Defense
Founded	1982
Founder	David W. Thompson
Headquarters	Dulles, Virginia
Key people	David W. Thompson, CEO; J.R. Thompson, COO; Garrett E. Pierce, CFO
Products	Space Launch Vehicles, Missile Defense Systems, Satellites and Related Systems, Advanced Space Systems, Space Technical Services, Transportation Management Systems
Revenue	$703.45M USD (FY 2005)
Total assets	1,280,000,000 United States dollar (2013)
Number of employees	2,900 (2006)
Divisions	Launch Systems Group; Space Systems Group; Advanced Programs Group; Transportation Management Systems
Website	www.orbital.com

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Revision as of 14:58, 27 July 2008

Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC, though commonly referred to as Orbital) is a Dulles, Virginia company which specializes in satellite launch and manufacture. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems. Orbital formerly owned ORBIMAGE (now GeoEye) and the Magellan line of GPS receivers, though they are now divested (the latter to Thales). Orbital's NYSE ticker symbol is ORB. This company should not be confused with the Australian Orbital.

History

Orbital was founded in 1982 by David Thompson, Bruce Ferguson and Scott Webster.^[1] In 1990, the company successfully carried out eight space missions, highlighted by the initial launch of the Pegasus rocket, the world's first privately-developed space launch vehicle.^[2] In 2006 Orbital conducted its 500th mission since the company’s founding.

Orbital Products

Satellite launch vehicles

Minotaur
Pegasus
Taurus
OSP-2 Minotaur IV, a satellite launching version of the LG-118A Peacekeeper
Taurus II (in development)

Experimental vehicles

X-34 reusable launch vehicle demonstrator

National and theater missile defense

Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Orbital Boost Vehicle (OBV) for the Army's Missile Defense Agency (MDA)
Kinetic Energy Interceptors (KEI)
Ballistic target vehicles
Suborbital rocket testbeds

GEO Satellites

STAR 2 platform: At its Dulles, Virginia plant Orbital builds medium-sized spacecraft based on the company's STAR 2 platform. Both payloads of a recent Ariane 5 launch — Optus D2 and Intelsat 11 were built on the STAR 2 platform.^[3]

LEO satellites

GALEX
SORCE
DART
AIM
OCO (in production)
GLORY (in production)
ORBCOMM Fleet

Planetary probes

DAWN
IBEX

Client Countries

Other

DART Rendezvous Vehicle
Hyper-X
Orbital Space Plane
Crew Exploration Vehicle (within the team of Lockheed Martin)
NASA's Dawn Mission
GQM-163A Coyote
Cygnus spacecraft under COTS

Launch Sites

Orbital's launch vehicles have been staged from many sites worldwide. These include:

Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAS) in Florida
Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) in Virginia
Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska
Edwards Air Force Base in California
Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands
Canary Islands in Spain
Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Hawaii

Space Systems Group

[June 6, 2001] Orbital's Space Systems Group designs, manufactures and supports the operation of low-orbit and geosynchronous orbit satellites and related spacecraft systems. During the last five years, SSG has successfully developed, built, tested and deployed 46 satellites; the group currently has 15 additional satellites under design or in production.^{[citation needed]} SSG also provides space-related technical services to NASA, the Department of Defense, and other U.S. Government agencies. SSG currently employs approximately 1,000 people and generated revenues of over $200 million in 2000.

References

^ [1]
^ [2]
^ "Arianespace boosts Intelsat 11 and Optus D2 into orbit". Arianespace. 2007-10-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

[1] [1]

[2] [2]

[3] "Arianespace boosts Intelsat 11 and Optus D2 into orbit". Arianespace. 2007-10-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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 ==History==
-Orbital was founded in 1982 by David Thompson, Bruce Ferguson and Scott Webster.  In 1990, the company successfully carried out eight space missions, highlighted by the initial launch of the [[Pegasus rocket]], the world's first privately-developed space launch vehicle.  In 2006 Orbital conducted its 500th mission since the company’s founding.
+Orbital was founded in 1982 by David Thompson, Bruce Ferguson and Scott Webster.<ref>[http://www.orbital.com/About/Milestones/80_89/]</ref>  In 1990, the company successfully carried out eight space missions, highlighted by the initial launch of the [[Pegasus rocket]], the world's first privately-developed space launch vehicle.<ref>[http://www.orbital.com/About/Milestones/90_99/]</ref>  In 2006 Orbital conducted its 500th mission since the company’s founding.
 ==Orbital Products==