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Technology Stocks : Orbital science (ORB) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jeff lipschutz who wrote (1952)	10/3/1998 9:40:00 AM
From: Richard Schmidt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2394

Press release: Barron Beneski (703)406-5000 ORBITAL'S TAURUS ROCKET SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES SATELLITE FOR NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE Company's Ground-Launched Booster adds Third Mission to Perfect Launch Record (OCTOBER 3, 1998) - Based on preliminary information, Orbital Sciences Corporation's Taurus® rocket successfully launched an advanced experimental satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office earlier today in a mission that originated from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Lift-off of the Taurus rocket occurred at 3:04 a.m. Pacific time (6:04 a.m. Eastern time), when the vehicle's first stage ignited, commencing its flight into low-Earth orbit. After an approximate 13-minute flight following a pre-programmed launch sequence controlled by Taurus' on-board flight computer, the NRO's Space Technology Experiment (STEX) satellite separated from the final stage of the Taurus rocket over Antarctica. Preliminary information gathered following the launch indicates that the Taurus rocket performed as planned, accurately delivering the STEX satellite into an orbit approximately 665 kilometers (370 nautical miles) above the Earth, inclined at 85 degrees to the equator. Today's mission was the third flight of the company's ground-launched Taurus rocket, all of which were successful. It also marked the third successful space launch mission that Orbital has conducted in the past two months. The four-stage Taurus rocket used for this mission consisted of a U.S. Government-supplied Peacekeeper first stage and three Pegasus-derived upper stages. The vehicle stood 89 feet tall and weighed approximately 151,000 pounds at lift-off. Orbital developed the ground-launched Taurus vehicle to provide a reliable and cost-effective means of launching satellites weighing up to 3,000 pounds into low-Earth orbit, or up to 800 pounds into geosynchronous orbit. Taurus incorporates advanced structural and avionics technology flight-proven on Pegasus and other operational launch systems. The STEX mission was the second Taurus launch in 1998, and the third in the rocket program's history. Earlier this year, Orbital successfully launched the GeoSat Follow-on (GFO) satellite for the U.S. Navy, together with two ORBCOMM data communications satellites, on its second Taurus vehicle. The maiden flight of Taurus occurred in 1994, when Orbital successfully carried out a mission for the U.S. Government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The STEX satellite is a 1,523-pound experimental spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin Corporation that will be operated by the NRO. Over its two-year design life, the spacecraft will demonstrate 29 new technologies that may result in lower cost and higher performance spacecraft for future missions.