Mon, Jan 14, 2008
CEV Contract Expected To Exceed $50 Million
Alliant Techsystems was recently selected by Lockheed Martin
Space Systems Company to design, develop and build UltraFlex solar
arrays for NASA's next generation Orion crew exploration
vehicle.
The value of the initial design and development contract is
expected to exceed $50 million. Program management, design,
engineering, analysis, manufacturing, assembly and test work for
the solar arrays will be conducted at ATK's facility in Goleta, CA.
Because the flight solar array system is expendable for each Orion
mission, ATK expects continuous production through 2020 and
beyond.
Orion is being designed to carry astronauts to the moon. It also
will transport crew and cargo to the International Space
Station.
ATK's UltraFlex disk shaped solar
arrays, each measuring greater than five meters in diameter, will
track the sun and provide power for Orion during its mission. ATK's
UltraFlex arrays offer superior performance characteristics and
mission enabling features, including ultra-lightweight, high
strength, high stiffness, and compact stowage volume. The UltraFlex
solar array configured for Orion will provide over twenty-five
times the strength and ten times the stiffness of ATK's
conventional rigid panel solar arrays, at less than one-fourth the
weight.
"We are very excited to play such a key partner role on Lockheed
Martin's team supporting NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle,"
said Mike Cerneck, Vice President and General Manager of ATK Space,
headquartered in Beltsville, MD. "ATK is a leader in the
development and supply of mission-enabling deployable space systems
and we look forward to supporting NASA's new era of space
exploration."
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