Iuka enables satellite launches

DULLES, Va. - Orbital ATK supplied products from multiple company locations across the United States – including its Iuka, Miss., manufacturing plant - that helped enable the successful launch of both the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V vehicle and the GPS satellite that was deployed July 15 from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The 10th GPS IIF satellite will replace first-generation GPS satellites and provide improved accuracy, signal strength and quality to U.S. war-fighters, allies and civilian users worldwide. Boeing designed and built the GPS IIF satellite for the Air Force. The Orbital ATK components were used on both the Atlas V launch vehicle and GPS satellite. These include large composite structures, retro motors, and state-of-the art solar arrays and other critical components on the GPS IIF satellite. Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies. (Source: Business Wire 07/15/15) Central Mississippi Note: For the ULA Atlas V rocket, Orbital ATK produced the 10-foot diameter composite heat shield. Orbital ATK fabricated the assembly using advanced fiber placement manufacturing techniques at the company’s Iuka, Miss., facility. It was the 55th Atlas V launch using Orbital ATK-built composite structures.