OATK milestone for launch system

DULLES, Va. - Orbital ATK, an international aerospace and defense technologies company, successfully completed a milestone on Oct. 27 in developing advanced solid rocket propulsion, and other technologies, to be used in its Next Generation Launch (NGL) system. The milestone was a structural acceptance test on the first motor high-strength composite case for NGL. “This milestone clearly shows the progress being made by the hundreds of engineers and technicians in Utah and Arizona who are developing the NGL system.” The applied structural loads during the test demonstrated more than 110 percent of maximum expected motor operating pressure; and 110 percent of operational/flight and pre-launch compressive/tensile line loads. This full-scale motor case segment will be cast with inert solid rocket propellant in early 2018 and shipped to the launch site for check-out of ground operations. “NGL is one of Orbital ATK’s top growth initiatives,” said Scott Lehr, president of Orbital ATK’s Flight Systems Group. The next phase of the program is expected to begin when the Air Force awards the Launch Services Agreement in mid-2018, which would entail full vehicle and launch site development, with work taking place at company facilities in Iuka, Miss.; Promontory and Magna, Utah; Chandler, Ariz.; Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; and Vandenberg AFB, Calif. (Source: Orbital ATK 11/07/17)