ATK Plays Key Role in Successful Delta II Rocket Launch

[RobBrady]

ATK Plays Key Role in Successful Delta II Rocket Launch

ATK Propulsion, Composite, and Space Technologies Support GPS Satellite Mission

GPS IIR-M Satellite Provides Upgraded Operations and Navigation Signal Performance

MINNEAPOLIS, March 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) supported today's successful launch of United Launch Alliance's Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The rocket carried the U.S. Air Force's seventh modernized Global Positioning System Block IIR (GPS IIR-M) military navigation satellite built by Lockheed Martin.

Nine GEM-40 solid propulsion strap-on boosters manufactured in ATK's Magna, Utah, facility provided augmented thrust during the flight to help get the GPS IIR-M satellite to its desired orbit. The company's Clearfield, Utah, facility produced the composite cases for the GEM-40 boosters using an automated filament winding process developed and refined through the company's 40-year-heritage in composite manufacturing.

Six GEM-40 motors ignited with the first-stage main engine and provided more 824,000 pounds of maximum thrust at liftoff. One minute later the remaining three boosters ignited as planned providing an additional 427,000 pounds of maximum thrust. Following GEM-40 motor burnout, the boosters were jettisoned and STAR(TM) motors produced at the company's Elkton, Md., facility were used to complete the Delta II boost phase and spacecraft orbit insertion.

One hour and five minutes into the flight, an ATK-produced STAR(TM) 48B rocket motor acting as the Delta II third stage fired for an 85-second burn and the GPS IIR-20(M) satellite was separated from the launch vehicle and allowed to coast. Following a two-day coast period, ATK's STAR(TM) 37FM motor will be ignited via an ATK Model 2134B safe-and-arm device, placing the GPS spacecraft in its final orbit within the GPS constellation. With this flight, the STAR family of motors has now flown 2,443 successful missions.

The GPS constellation provides critical situational awareness and precision weapon guidance for the military and supports a wide range of civil, scientific and commercial functions - from air traffic control to the Internet - with precision location and timing information. Lockheed Martin and its navigation payload provider ITT of Clifton, N.J., designed and built 21 IIR spacecraft and subsequently modernized eight of those spacecraft designated Block IIR-M for the Global Positioning Systems Wing, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.

GPS IIR-M satellites include an upgrade from the baseline GPS IIR design that incorporates two new military signals for enhanced accuracy and a second civil signal on a different frequency. This upgrade resulted in a load, which is managed via a 3-foot by 5-foot equipment panel with an enhanced thermal control architecture that implements a network of embedded heat pipes for efficient heat acquisition and distribution. ATK's Beltsville, Md., facilities fabricated and tested the upgraded panels under contract to Lockheed Martin, contributing to the overall mission success of the high profile GPS IIR-M capability upgrade.

ATK is a premier aerospace and defense company with more than 17,000 employees in 21 states and $4.5 billion in revenue. News and information can be found on the Internet at www.atk.com.

Trina Patterson
ATK

Web Site: http://www.atk.com/
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Robert Brady

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