• Forum
• SITREP
• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security

• Space

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Public Eye

ATK Rocket Motors Successfully Launch U.S. Air Force Satellite Aboard Titan IV B Rocket

Aug 7, 2001

ATK (Alliant Techsystems) (NYSE: ATK) said rocket motors designed and manufactured by its Aerospace Group helped launch a Lockheed Martin Titan IV B rocket carrying a Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Aug. 6.

Two Solid Rocket Motor Upgrade (SRMU) motors, each measuring 112 feet long and 123 inches in diameter provided the zero-stage boost assist for the Titan IV B rocket during its initial 136 seconds of flight. Following their burnout, the SRMU boosters were separated from the Titan IV vehicle by twelve staging rockets measuring 8 inches in diameter attached to the nose and the aft skirt of the boosters. At approximately nine minutes into the flight, four STAR™ 5CB (Clean Burn) retrorockets measuring five inches in diameter propelled the Titan IV B second stage away from the upper stage and payload stack.

The SRMU boosters are produced by ATK Aerospace Propulsion Company, Magna, Utah. The three-segment SRMU motor cases are made of graphite epoxy composite material, which reduces its inert weight from that of its steel-cased predecessor motor, despite the SRMU's larger size and greater amount of solid propellant.

The staging motors and the STAR 5CB retrorockets are produced by ATK Tactical Systems Company at its Rocket Center, W. Va. and Elkton, Md. manufacturing facilities. The STAR 5CB rocket motors use a specially developed propellant with low aluminum content to minimize possible contamination to sensitive payload surfaces when the retrorockets fire upward to push the spent second stage away. More than 800 STAR 5 motors have flown on Titan launch vehicles since 1960.

The nation's largest, most powerful expendable launch vehicle, the Titan IV B is capable of boosting up to 47,800 pounds into low-Earth orbit or more than 12,700 pounds into geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth. It is built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company-Astronautics Operations near Denver, Colo.

The DSP satellite launched by the Titan IV B rocket joins a constellation of similar satellites used by the U.S. Air Force to provide early warning of missile launches worldwide.

ATK is a $1.6 billion aerospace and defense company with leading positions in propulsion, composite structures, munitions, and precision capabilities. The company, which is headquartered in Hopkins, Minn., employs approximately 9,600 people and has two business groups: Aerospace and Defense. ATK news information can be found on the Internet at http://www.atk.com/

SOURCE: Alliant Techsystems

Contact: Media, Rod Bitz, +1-952-931-5413, rod_bitz@atk.com, or
Investors, Steve Wold, +1-952-931-6747, steve_wold@atk.com, both of Alliant Techsystems