NASA Chooses ILS Atlas V Launch Vehicle to Launch Solar Dynamics Observatory

A mission to study solar influences on space weather will ride into orbit on an Atlas V launch vehicle, under a contract announced today between NASA and International Launch Services (ILS).

ILS is scheduled to launch the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in April 2008 from Cape Canaveral (FL), using the Atlas V 401 configuration. The space agency's Kennedy Space Center is managing the launch services contract, while Goddard Space Flight Center manages the SDO project. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"It's exciting to have this vital space exploration mission on our manifest, and to support NASA's advancement of science," said ILS President Mark Albrecht. "This will be our third NASA launch on Atlas V, following the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2005 and the Pluto New Horizons flight in 2006."

This also is ILS' sixth award of the year for an Atlas V launch, which is complemented by an equal number of new Proton launch orders.

The Solar Dynamics Observatory is the first spacecraft in Goddard's Living with a Star Program, under NASA's Sun-Earth Connection theme. Among the SDO study topics are solar magnetic fields and the dynamic processes that influence space weather.

FMI: www.nasa.gov, www.lockheedmartin.gov, www.ilslaunch.com