ATK Receives Contract Valued At Nearly $5 Million For Oriole Rocket Motors Motors Will Be Used For Testing U.S. Missile Defenses
Oriole Booster Is Also A Low Cost Sounding Rocket SolutionAlliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) received a contract valued at nearly $5 million to manufacture fifteen Oriole solid propellant Rocket motors for use in testing U.S. missile defense capabilities. The contract was awarded to ATK by DTI Associates, Arlington, Virginia to supply Rocket motors for use by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the U.S. Navy. There is potential for a follow-on contract worth an additional $2 to 3-million that could be awarded in AFY 2008. The Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Navy identified the Oriole as a low cost solution to meet their requirements for testing U.S. missile defense systems by providing a realistic missile threat. For this application the Oriole Rocket motor will be used as a second stage mated to a Terrier Mk 70 Rocket first stage booster. The vehicle system will be used as a target for testing. The Oriole Rocket motor was originally developed to provide additional boost capability for the NASA space science program and to deliver small payloads into seven minutes of microgravity environment. The Oriole booster has achieved five successful launches to date. Production of the Oriole Rocket motors is expected to begin in March 2007 with deliveries planned for November 2007. All work on the Oriole Rocket motors will be performed at ATK's Rocket Center, West Virginia facility. ATK began production of the Oriole Rocket motor in 1999 and has delivered a total of seven units to DTI. The Oriole, designated by ATK as GEM-22 (graphite epoxy motor - 22-inch), is part of a larger GEM family of motors that has completed over 1,000 successful static and flight tests. The GEM family includes the GEM-22, GEM-40, GEM-50, GEM-60 and Pegasus propulsion systems. |
