Orbital Sciences will provide propulsion for the Air Launch Vehicle built for Stratolaunch System. Image credit: NASA

[Satellite TODAY 08-13-13] ATK has received a contract from Orbital Sciences Corporation to provide first and second stage propulsion for the Air Launch Vehicle (ALV) that Orbital is designing and building for Stratolaunch Systems Corporation as part of an air-launched space transportation system. The contract from Orbital includes the design, development and flight hardware for initial Stratolaunch missions.

      This new work expands ATK’s partnership with Orbital, dating back to the development of Orbital’s original air-launched vehicle, Pegasus, which also uses ATK rocket motors for stage propulsion. ATK has manufactured more than 1600 commercial solid rocket motors to date for a variety of launch vehicles including Delta 2 and Delta 4, as well as Orbital’s Pegasus, Taurus, Minotaur and Antares space launch vehicles.