Second Space Age - Orbital Sciences Corporation

If you live on the east coast of the United States then it's likely that over the past year you've been introduced to the work of one of the major players in the Second Space Age, Orbital Sciences Corporation. (If you don't live in that area or have never heard of them, please read on anyway!) They've built and operated the various rockets that have been flying out of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the eastern shore of Virginia. Their launches have caught the attention of the public lately thanks to their frequent night-time launch windows (the short time that physics dictates as just the right time to launch a particular mission).

Orbital Sciences is one of two companies contracted by NASA to deliver supplies and new science experiments to the International Space Station under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. (We'll discuss the other company in the near future.) Based in Dulles, VA, Orbital Sciences was founded in 1982 and has developed an impressive reputation in the small- and medium-class satellite business, having produced about 140 satellites with two primary focuses. The first is communications and the second is remote sensing which means using instruments aboard the satellite to make measurements and observations of Earth which can be used in scientific studies, military operations, and commercial uses like urban planning and farming.

They've also been building and flying rockets very successfully, and interesting ones at that! Their Pegasus rocket has a triangular wing and is launched horizontally after being dropped by a Lockheed L-1011 carrier plane at 40,000 feet. This has the great advantage of getting the rocket above the thickest part of the atmosphere so the rocket experiences less resistance and it's above most of the weather so the odds of being able to launch are increased greatly.

The rockets that have been catching the public's attention, however, are the Minotaurs (like the one used to launch LADEE a few months ago) that Orbital Sciences have created by acquiring decommissioned US Air Force Minuteman and Peacekeeper missiles and using them as the first two stages then mounting their own flight-proven rockets and computers on top with their satellite payloads. This gets to the heart of what Orbital Sciences does often and does well: assembling pieces that have excellent success rates and are readily available. In this way they are able to put together launch vehicles that are safe, reliable, capable, and cost-effective. That is a crucial ability for any company hoping to hold a position as major player in the satellite launch world and especially when helping pioneer commercial cargo service to our space station.

The next entry will be about Orbital Sciences' newest rocket, the Antares, which will be launching this Wednesday, January 8th, and later in the week I'll introduce you to do Cygnus cargo vehicle that is serving as one of two  commercial resupply vessels for the International Space Station.

If you have any questions about Orbital Sciences or anything referenced here please leave a comment!