Orbital ATK-Built Planet-Hunting Satellite Successfully Deployed For NASA
19 Aprile 2018 - 2:21AM
Business Wire
TESS Satellite to Search for Nearby
Extra-Solar Planets on Multi-Year Mission
Company Delivers 31st Science
Spacecraft for NASA’s Research Programs
Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense
technologies, announced that the Transiting Exoplanet Survey
Satellite (TESS), built by the company for NASA, was successfully
launched today aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. As the first-ever
exoplanet satellite to perform a survey of the entire sky, TESS
will identify planets ranging from Earth-sized to Jupiter-sized,
orbiting a wide range of stellar types and in various orbital
regimes. The principal goal of the TESS mission is to use four
wide-field cameras to detect small planets around bright host stars
in the solar neighborhood so that detailed characterizations of the
planets and their atmospheres can be performed.
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The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
(TESS) was built at Orbital ATK's Dulles, Virginia, facility. It is
the company's 31st science spacecraft delivered to NASA. (Photo:
Business Wire)
Liftoff occurred at 6:51 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station, Florida. The satellite separated successfully from the
launch vehicle 49 minutes into the mission. Orbital ATK completed
the satellite’s post-launch health checks and configuration
activities in preparation for a series of in-space maneuvers,
including a lunar gravitational assist, to reach its targeted
highly-elliptical orbit. Once in-orbit testing has been completed,
TESS will begin its initial two-year mission approximately 60 days
after launch.
“The data from our first tests show TESS is in good health and
performing as expected early in its mission,” said Steve Krein,
Vice President of Science and Environmental Satellite Programs at
Orbital ATK. “TESS adds to our growing list of successful
scientific space missions that have helped us study the Earth and
Sun, explore the solar system, and probe the mysteries of the
universe. This successful launch marks the 31st science spacecraft
we have developed and built for NASA over the last 35 years, and
continues to demonstrate Orbital ATK’s expertise in delivering the
high-quality satellites our customers expect.”
Orbital ATK has a rich history of designing and manufacturing
small space science satellites. From a small, low-cost astrophysics
mission like GALEX, used to explore the origin and evolution of
galaxies and stars, to Earth-imaging satellites such as the Landsat
series, which have been monitoring surface changes for over 45
years, to the Dawn spacecraft, the first deep-space mission to
orbit two interplanetary bodies in the main asteroid belt between
Mars and Jupiter, the company’s robust spacecraft platforms and
comprehensive engineering know-how have enabled many of these
satellites to far exceed their design lifetimes.
TESS was built at Orbital ATK’s Satellite Manufacturing Facility
in Dulles, Virginia and is based on the company’s LEOStar-2™ bus, a
flight-proven and flexible satellite platform that accommodates a
wide variety of missions. Continuing the company’s legacy for
delivering high-performance science and environmental spacecraft,
several similar satellites are now in production for upcoming NASA
missions that include the ICON heliophysics explorer, also built on
a LEOStar-2 platform, as well as the Earth science ICESAT-2 and
Landsat-9 satellites and the JPSS-2 weather spacecraft which use
the larger LEOStar-3™ bus.
TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and managed by the NASA
Goddard Spaceflight Center. More than a dozen universities,
research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in
the mission.
About Orbital ATK
Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense
technologies. The company designs, builds and delivers space,
defense and aviation systems for customers around the world, both
as a prime contractor and merchant supplier. Its main products
include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile
products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons,
armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space
components and services; and advanced aerospace structures.
Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Orbital ATK employs
approximately 14,000 people across the U.S. and in several
international locations. For more information, visit
www.orbitalatk.com.
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Orbital ATKMedia Contact:Kristen Basham,
703-404-7476Group Lead Public
Relationskristen.basham@orbitalatk.comorInvestor
Contact:Barron Beneski, 703-406-5528Public and Investor
Relationsbarron.beneski@orbitalatk.com
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