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ORBITAL SUCCESSFULLY CONDUCTS FIRST FLIGHT TEST OF X-34 ROCKETPLANE

First Captive-Carry Flight Begins FAA Certification Process

(Dulles, Virginia 30 June 1999) -- Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) announced today that it successfully began the flight test phase of its X-34 reusable launch vehicle program on Tuesday, June 29, 1999, when the first of a series of "captive-carry" flights was conducted from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The captive-carry flights are being conducted to allow Orbital and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to certify that the modifications made to the company's L-1011 carrier aircraft to accommodate the X-34 vehicle do not pose any safety issues to the aircraft, its flight crew, or people and property on the ground.

Orbital's L-1011 airborne platform is the same aircraft that the company uses to launch its Pegasus space launch vehicle. The airplane was modified for Orbital by U.K.-based Marshall Aerospace of Cambridge Ltd. so that it can be used for both Pegasus and X-34 missions.

"We are extremely pleased to begin the flight test phase of the X-34 program," said Dr. Robert E. Lindberg, Orbital's Vice President and X-34 Program Manager. "The entire X-34 team, including Orbital, NASA and industry representatives, as well as our L-1011 ground and flight crews, have worked tirelessly to reach this exciting milestone. I applaud them all for their efforts."

The X-34 is an unmanned, single-engine rocketplane that will test many new technologies leading to the development of reusable launch vehicles that could launch satellites into space in the future. It is approximately 58 feet long, has a 28-foot wingspan and is 11 feet tall from the bottom of the fuselage to the top of the tail. The X-34 is designed to achieve altitudes of up to 250,000 feet and speeds of up to Mach 8, or eight times faster than the speed of sound.

In preparation for the captive-carry flight, the X-34 vehicle was mated underneath the L-1011 on Wednesday, June 23, at Dryden, and underwent pre-flight testing over the next several days. On Tuesday, June 29, the X-34 vehicle was carried aloft for the first time ever when Orbital's L-1011 took off at approximately 1:15 p.m. EDT and embarked on a two-hour test flight over the California desert. Orbital expects to conduct additional captive-carry flights throughout the month of July.

The captive-carry flights represent the first phase of the program's flight testing. Following the captive-carry flights, Orbital will conduct several unpowered flights, during which the X-34 vehicle will be released from the L-1011 and will glide back to Earth to test its onboard approach and landing system. These tests will then lead to a series of powered flights in which the X-34 will be released from the L-1011 and will ignite its Fastrac rocket engine, being developed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

NASA and Orbital have identified the ability to frequently reuse a rocket vehicle with a small operations crew as the next breakthrough required for lowering the cost of launching satellites into space. Today, satellites are launched aboard rockets that are 'expendable,' or one-use, thereby making the cost of access to space prohibitive to all but well-funded companies, government agencies and military organizations in the U.S. and around the world.

Orbital is one of the largest space and information systems companies in the world, with 1998 revenues of about $735 million. The company, which is headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, employs over 5,000 people at its major facilities in the United States, Canada and several overseas locations. Orbital is the world’s leading manufacturer of low-cost space systems and products, including satellites, launch vehicles, electronics and sensors, satellite ground systems and software, and satellite-based navigation and communications products. Through its ORBCOMM and ORBIMAGE affiliates and ORBNAV subsidiary, Orbital is also a pioneering operator of satellite-based networks that provide data communications, high-resolution imagery and automotive information services to customers all around the world.

Contact: Barron Beneski, 7034065000, beneski.barron@orbital.com