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ATK Solid Rocket Motors Help Orbital's Taurus Rocket Successfully Launch Satellite for U.S. Department of Energy

Mar 15, 2000

ATK (Alliant Techsystems) (NYSE: ATK) said three solid propulsion rocket motors manufactured by Alliant Aerospace Propulsion Company, Magna, Utah, helped an Orbital Sciences Corporation Taurus® rocket successfully boost the U.S. Department of Energy's Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) satellite into its targeted orbit on March 12.

The launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., was the fifth flight of the Taurus rocket since its debut in 1994, all of which resulted in successful satellite deployments. The solid rocket motors developed by Alliant Aerospace Propulsion Company for the Taurus comprise the rocket's three upper stages.

The MTI satellite carries a sophisticated telescope that collects images of the Earth, during the day and at night, in 15 spectral bands, ranging from the visible to long-wave infrared. The unique imaging instrument was designed and built by a government and industry team led by Sandia National Laboratories, and was calibrated in a special facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The ground-launched Taurus vehicle was developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation to provide a cost-effective, reliable means of launching satellites weighing up to 3,000 pounds into low-Earth orbit. Prior to the MTI mission, the most recent Taurus launch occurred on Dec. 20, 1999, when the rocket deployed two satellites -- the KOMPSAT satellite for the Republic of Korea and the ACRIMSAT satellite for NASA.

In addition to the Taurus rocket, Alliant Aerospace Propulsion Company produces solid propulsion systems and composite components for the Pegasus®, Minotaur, and Hyper-X launch vehicles, which also are manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation. The company also manufactures solid boosters for the Boeing Delta family of launch vehicles, the Lockheed Martin Titan IVB rocket, the U.S. Navy's Trident II Fleet Ballistic Missile, and the National Missile Defense program.

Alliant Aerospace Propulsion Company is part of ATK's Aerospace group, which comprises the company's space and strategic propulsion and Utah- and Mississippi-based composite structures operations. The group employs approximately 1,700 people in California, Florida, Mississippi, and Utah. Sales in fiscal year 1999 were $395 million.

ATK is a $1.1 billion aerospace and defense company with leading market positions in munitions, solid propulsion, composite structures, and precision electronic fuzes. The company, which is headquartered in Hopkins, Minn., employs approximately 5,800 people and has three business segments: Conventional Munitions, Aerospace, and Defense Systems. ATK news and information can be found on the Internet at http://www.atk.com/

SOURCE: Alliant Techsystems

Contact: Media, Rod Bitz, 612-931-5413, rod_bitz@atk.com, or Investors,
Melanie E. R. Miller, 612-931-6921, melanie_miller@atk.com, both of Alliant Techsystems