• 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 Boost Boeing Delta II Launch Vehicle Carrying NASA Satellites

Dec 12, 2001

Rocket motors manufactured by ATK (Alliant Techsystems) (NYSE: ATK) helped launch a Boeing Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. on Dec. 7 on a mission to place two NASA satellites into orbit.

Nine solid propellant GEM 40 strap-on boosters produced by ATK Thiokol Propulsion Company, Promontory, Utah, provided the initial thrust for the Boeing Delta II rocket. Six of the boosters were ground-lit. Within a minute after liftoff, the remaining three boosters were air-lit. The spent motors were then jettisoned from the rocket as it continued its mission.

The two satellites placed into orbit on the mission were:

-- The Jason 1 oceanographic satellite, a joint project of NASA and CNES, the French space agency. Jason 1 is the follow-on to Topex/Poseidon, a U.S.-French spacecraft that has been making precise measurements of ocean surface topography since 1992. The information is used to map ocean currents, improve the understanding of ocean circulation, measure global sea level change, and improve global climate forecasts.

-- The TIMED (Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics) satellite, a joint project of NASA and The Johns Hopkins University. The two-year TIMED mission will study the effects of the sun and human-induced activities on the least explored and understood portion of Earth's atmosphere, the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere/Ionosphere.

ATK Thiokol Propulsion Company, the world's leading supplier of solid-propellant rocket motors, manufactures the GEM-40 boosters at its production facility in Magna, Utah. The boosters have flown on Boeing Delta II missions since 1990. ATK GEM motors also support the Boeing Delta III rocket and will fly on the inaugural launch of the Boeing Delta IV rocket in 2002.

ATK is a $1.7 billion aerospace and defense company with leading positions in propulsion, composite structures, munitions, and precision capabilities. The company, which is headquartered in Edina, Minn., employs approximately 11,400 people and has two business groups: Aerospace and Defense. ATK news and information can be found on the Internet at http://www.atk.com/

SOURCE: Alliant Techsystems

Contact: Media, Rod Bitz, +1-952-351-3063, rod_bitz@atk.com, or
Investors, Steve Wold, +1-952-351-3056, steve_wold@atk.com