Wednesday August 11, 2:00 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital's End-to-End Space Capabilities to Be Demonstrated on
$23 Million NASA Ozone Monitoring Program
- NASA to Utilize Orbital's Space and Ground Systems for QuikTOMS Mission -
DULLES, Va., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB - news) announced today that it has been selected by the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center to build, launch and operate the QuikTOMS
atmospheric ozone monitoring satellite, as well as to integrate the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument that the company has
already built for the space agency. Orbital is also currently in discussions with NASA's Kennedy Space Center to launch the QuikTOMS
satellite as a secondary payload aboard the company's Taurus rocket in 2000. Together, the QuikTOMS program is valued at about $23 million
(including an estimated amount for the Taurus launch).
For years, Orbital has been making space more affordable and accessible to companies and government agencies worldwide by developing a
full range of low- cost ``building block' products that make up complete space-based networks -- advanced small- and medium-class satellites,
sophisticated spaceborne sensors, innovative and reliable launch vehicles and specialized ground systems and software. This end-to-end
space mission capability, which has been applied to government and commercial missions in the United States and abroad, will again come into
play on the QuikTOMS program.
The QuikTOMS mission will provide scientists worldwide with highly detailed information on the condition of the atmosphere's ozone layer,
which protects life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. Although NASA has been monitoring changes in the ozone layer
since 1978, in recent years scientists have become concerned about the growth of an ozone ``hole' over Antarctica, a large area of ozone
depletion that occurs annually between August and October. Scientists have already determined that the hole has significantly increased in
size since it was first detected in 1985 and will continue their study of the ozone hole with the data supplied by the QuikTOMS spacecraft.
The QuikTOMS satellite is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a coordinated research effort to study the Earth as a global environmental
system. The three-year QuikTOMS mission will be managed by the Rapid Spacecraft Development Office on behalf of the Earth Probes Office,
based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
``The QuikTOMS program represents another opportunity for us to apply our commercial satellite technology to a NASA science mission to
help save money and time as well as to reduce risk,' said Mr. Robert R. Lovell, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Orbital's Space
Systems Group. He added, ``We look forward to continuing our cooperative relationship with NASA on Earth science programs, a relationship
that extends from the early Landsat-4 and -5 spacecraft buses and the TOPEX/Poseidon mission to the Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance
Monitor (ACRIMSAT) and Vegetation Canopy Lidar (VCL) satellites now in production.'
Dr. Robert H. Hertel, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Orbital's Sensor Systems Division, which built the TOMS instrument, said,
``For over a decade, Orbital has designed and built TOMS instruments that have delivered some of the most valuable ozone information ever
collected for NASA. These sensors have enabled researchers to gain critical knowledge about the Earth's changing climate, and we are proud to
have worked with NASA to bring these issues to light.'
The QuikTOMS Satellite
Orbital's Space System Group is the world's leading supplier of small low- orbit satellites, and a pioneer in the development of affordable,
lightweight spacecraft for geosynchronous applications. For the QuikTOMS program, Orbital will use its flight-proven MicroStar spacecraft,
which provides the basis for over 45 satellites in orbit or under production today. Originally developed for the ORBCOMM data
communications network, the MicroStar spacecraft design has been readily adapted to missions for NASA, DARPA, ORBIMAGE and
Teledesic LLC. MicroStar's commercial production line approach will provide cost and schedule benefits to the QuikTOMS program through the
use of mature designs, automated manufacturing and test equipment, dedicated and experienced personnel, and established vendors.
The TOMS Sensor
Orbital's Sensor Systems Division has built five TOMS sensors for NASA, including the one slated to ride on the QuikTOMS satellite. Flown
on U.S., Russian and Japanese satellites, these instruments have enabled the international science community to better understand the ozone
layer and the factors that alter atmospheric ozone distribution. The last Orbital-built TOMS sensor, launched aboard a U.S. Earth Probe satellite
in 1996, is still operating flawlessly, providing not only the most widely used ozone data, but also data on aerosol particles from desert dust
storms, forest fires and biomass burning, as well as UV-B radiation, a potential cause of skin cancer, and Earth surface and cloud reflectance,
key components of total ozone calculations.
The Taurus Launch Vehicle
Orbital's Launch Systems Group is the world's premier provider of small launch vehicles, with over 130 space and suborbital missions
conducted for government, commercial and international customers during the past 15 years. The company is planning to use its four-stage,
ground-launched Taurus rocket to carry the QuikTOMS satellite to orbit in 2000. Taurus has a 100% launch success record, with three missions
conducted to date and several more scheduled over the next two years.
The Ground System
Orbital's Space Systems Group will operate the QuikTOMS satellite for three years from a facility to be built at the company's Dulles, Virginia
headquarters. This facility will be modeled after one currently being used to successfully communicate with and control its ORBIMAGE
affiliate's OrbView-1 and -2 Earth imaging satellites. The ground station will provide full telemetry, tracking and command capabilities for the
QuikTOMS satellite.
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