Orbital ATK – Page 21 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX failure probe complete; flights to resume Sunday from California

January 2, 2017 William Harwood

After an exhaustive investigation, SpaceX engineers have identified the most likely cause of the spectacular explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket during a pre-launch test Sept. 1 that destroyed the booster and its $195 million satellite payload, the company announced Monday.

Iridium satellites closed up for launch on Falcon 9 rocket

December 30, 2016 Stephen Clark

The first 10 satellites for Iridium’s next-generation mobile voice and data relay network have been fueled, joined with their deployment module and encapsulated inside the clamshell-like nose cone of a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster for launch as soon as next week from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Orbital ATK has no plans to phase out seldom-used Pegasus rocket

December 27, 2016 Stephen Clark

The build-up of Orbital ATK’s next air-launched Pegasus XL rocket will start in the coming weeks at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and while its flight in mid-2017 is the last Pegasus launcher on the manifest with a confirmed payload, company officials are confident the unique vehicle has a future beyond next year.

Flock of ‘microsats’ launched to measure winds inside hurricanes

December 15, 2016 Stephen Clark

A winged Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket dropped from the belly of a carrier jet off the east coast of Florida and fired into orbit Thursday with eight research satellites to fly around the tropics and return measurements of winds at the cores of hurricanes.

Video: CYGNSS launched by Pegasus rocket

December 15, 2016 Justin Ray

The Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket is released from L-1011 carrier jet off the central Florida coastline at 8:37 a.m. EST (1337 GMT) and ignites to power eight microsats to space for NASA’s CYGNSS hurricane research project.

Hydraulic pump glitch scrubs Pegasus launch

December 12, 2016 Stephen Clark

Trouble with a hydraulic pump needed to release Orbital ATK’s air-launched Pegasus XL rocket from its carrier jet Monday has delayed the deployment of eight NASA hurricane research satellites until at least Wednesday.

Pegasus XL launch timeline with NASA’s CYGNSS microsats

December 12, 2016 Stephen Clark

Orbital ATK’s Pegasus XL rocket will take about eight minutes to reach orbit with NASA’s eight CYGNSS weather research microsatellites, then comes deployment of the spacecraft more than 300 miles above Earth.

Live coverage: Pegasus rocket successfully fires into orbit

December 12, 2016 Stephen Clark

An Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket carrying eight hurricane research satellites for NASA fired into orbit Thursday at 8:37 a.m. EST (1337 GMT) off the east coast of Florida.

Photos: Orbital ATK’s temporary Pegasus home base at Cape Canaveral

December 11, 2016 Stephen Clark

Take a look around the L-1011 jetliner, Pegasus rocket, and ground support gear at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Skid Strip for Monday’s scheduled launch of eight microsatellites to listen for winds inside hurricanes.

Video: Inside the CYGNSS satellite factory and the Pegasus carrier aircraft

December 11, 2016 Stephen Clark

Spaceflight Now visited the CYGNSS production facility at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio and the Pegasus XL rocket’s carrier plane at Cape Canaveral for rare looks at hardware that make NASA’s $157 million hurricane research mission possible.