Lockheed Goes With ATK To Design, Build Orion's Solar Arrays | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.12.25

Airborne-NextGen-05.13.25

AirborneUnlimited-05.14.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-05.15.25

AirborneUnlimited-05.16.25

Mon, Jan 14, 2008

Lockheed Goes With ATK To Design, Build Orion's Solar Arrays

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."

FMI: www.atk.com, www.nasaspaceflight.com

Advertisement

More News

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (05.20.25)

“From the beginning, the RV-15X’s performance has been very good, as reported and demonstrated in videos. However, we’ve continued to work hard to achieve the con>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.20.25): Handoff

Handoff An action taken to transfer the radar identification of an aircraft from one controller to another if the aircraft will enter the receiving controller's airspace and radio >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (05.20.25)

Aero Linx: The de Havilland Moth Club Ltd The de Havilland Moth Club evolved from a belief that an association of owners and operators of Moth aeroplanes should be formed to create>[...]

Airborne-NextGen 05.20.25: Drone Regs, Zero-Emission Cargo, Door-Dash Drone

Also: Blackhawk’s Replacement, Supersonic Flight, Archer 1Q/25, Long-Range VTOL Program U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy released an update on progress being ma>[...]

Airborne 05.19.25: Kolb v Tornados, Philippine Mars, Blackhawk Antler Theft

Also: Tentative AirVenture Airshow Lineup, Supersonic Flight Regs, Private Pilot Oral Exam Guide, Boeing Deal The sport aircraft business can be a tough one... especially when Moth>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC