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Orbital ATK Announces U.S. Air Force Contract
for Long Duration Propulsive ESPA Spacecraft
Orbital ATK has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Air Force Space and
Missiles Center (AFSMC) to build LDPE, or the Long Duration Propulsive
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA)
space platform. The innovative platform, positioned between the launch
booster and a primary space vehicle, is used to carry small payloads or
deploy small satellites. Under the contract, Orbital ATK will design and
manufacture the LDPE using its ESPAStar™ platform. The award includes the
initial LDPE, plus options for two additional systems and adds to the
rapidly growing production of ESPAStars that support a wide variety of
customer missions.
ESPAStar uses a modified EELV Secondary Payload Adapter ring as its
structure and is capable of being launched aboard any launch vehicle that
meets the EELV standard interface specification. It provides a modular, cost
effective and highly capable platform for hosting technology development and
operational payloads. ESPAStar leverages work performed on the
company-designed ESPA Augmented Geostationary Laboratory Experiment (EAGLE),
which successfully demonstrated similar technology for the U.S. Air Force.
In addition to EAGLE, two ESPAStars are currently in production for other
customers.
ESPAStar’s game-changing capability is another example of Orbital ATK’s
ability to deliver innovative products that fill a need for our customers,”
said Mike Larkin, Vice President and General Manager for Orbital ATK’s
Satellite Systems Division. “Based on Orbital ATK’s flight-proven GEOStar
product line the new ESPAStar technology will provide a cost-effective ride
to space for secondary payloads and offers maximum flexibility for orbit
locations and deployment.”
ESPAStar provides power, pointing, telemetry, command and control for
attached payloads or for small satellites that can be deployed from the
vehicle. Built to provide an even greater level of access to space, Orbital
ATK’s ESPAStar can accommodate any combination of up to six hosted or 12
separable, free-flyer payloads in low and geosynchronous orbit.
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