posted 04-16-2018 07:04 PM               

Orbital ATK Reinforces Commitment to U.S. Air Force EELV Program With OmegA Rocket

All-American Rocket Configuration Finalized with Selection of Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C Upper Stage Propulsion

OmegA Scheduled for Ground Tests Next Year, First Launch in 2021

During the 34th annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Orbital ATK, a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today [April 16] provided a detailed update on the important progress being made on its Next Generation Launch System.

The company reaffirmed its commitment to the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program for national security space missions with the announcement of the name of the rocket, OmegA, and the selection of its upper stage propulsion system. As one of the company's largest strategic investments, OmegA will provide intermediate-to heavy-class launch services for Department of Defense, civil government and commercial customers beginning in three years.

"Orbital ATK is very excited to partner with the U.S. Air Force to develop OmegA, our new EELV-class launch vehicle," said Scott Lehr, President of Orbital ATK's Flight Systems Group. "Our OmegA rocket provides the best combination of performance, affordability and reliability to support the full range of our customers' mission requirements. Based on our experience of producing more than 430 launch vehicles over the last 35 years, we have the rigorous processes, operational discipline and oversight transparency that are expected by our U.S. government customers. And with the industrial resources and financial capabilities of a $5 billion revenue company, Orbital ATK is fully committed to meeting the technical and schedule requirements of this important program."

Over the last three years, Orbital ATK and the U.S. Air Force have together invested more than $250 million in developing the OmegA rocket, and the company has committed to an even larger additional investment to complete its development and certification. Orbital ATK is already building major propulsion and structural elements with a program workforce of about 500 employees. OmegA is on schedule to complete propulsion system ground tests in 2019 and to conduct its first launch in 2021.

The rocket configuration consists of Orbital ATK-built first and second solid rocket stages, strap-on solid boosters and a cryogenic liquid upper stage. After careful consideration, Orbital ATK recently selected Aerojet Rocketdyne's RL10C to be OmegA's upper stage propulsion engine.

"The RL10 has provided reliable upper stage propulsion for more than five decades and we look forward to continuing that legacy with Orbital ATK and its OmegA rocket," said Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and President Eileen Drake. "By selecting the RL10, Orbital ATK is able to leverage investments made by the U.S. Air Force and others to build resilient space launch capabilities for our nation."

"The RL10 has an extensive flight history and provides a low-risk, affordable engine with outstanding performance," said Mike Pinkston, Deputy General Manager of Orbital ATK's Launch Vehicles Division. "OmegA is a robust all-American launch system with its entire design based on flight-proven technologies and common components from Orbital ATK's diversified lineup of rockets and propulsion systems."

Orbital ATK has a long history of launching critical payloads for the Department of Defense, NASA and other customers with the company's Pegasus, Minotaur and Antares space launch vehicles as well as a wide array of strategic missile interceptors and targets in support of critical national security launch programs.

"We currently have 10 launch vehicle product lines that are in active production and operations for our government and commercial customers, leveraging the efforts of one of the industry's most experienced launch vehicle development and operations teams," said Pinkston. The company has built and delivered about 160 space and strategic launch vehicles and approximately 275 target vehicles in the past 35 years, with current annual production rates totaling about 20 vehicles per year.

Approximately 500 employees are currently working on OmegA, a number that is expected to grow to about 1,000 people over the next 18 months. The company's development team is working on the program in Arizona, Utah, Mississippi and Louisiana, with launch integration and operations planned at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The program will also support hundreds of jobs across the country in its supply chain.

The next phase of the OmegA program is expected to begin when the U.S. Air Force awards Launch Services Agreements in mid-2018, which will include the remaining development and verification of the vehicle and its launch sites. After initial flights of its intermediate configuration in 2021, OmegA will be certified for operational EELV missions starting in 2022 with initial heavy configuration flights beginning in 2024.

posted 04-16-2018 07:06 PM               

The OmegA name represents the book-end of our rocket lineup from small-class Pegasus and Minotaur to medium-class Antares and now large-class OmegA.

This heavy-class rocket will have a payload capacity of up to 10,100 kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and up to 7,800 kg to Geostationary Equatorial Orbit (GEO).

To date, we have completed four large composite cases and will begin casting propellant in the first inert motor next week.

OmegA is a three-stage rocket with the option to add up to six strap-on boosters – first and second stage are solid propellant motors and third stage is cryogenic powered by Aerojet Rocketdyne RL-10C.

posted 05-18-2018 10:30 AM               

Orbital ATK Completes Cast of First Motor for OMEGA Rocket

During the largest solid rocket motor casting campaign in Orbital ATK's history, the company successfully cast its first inert motor segment for the Common Boost Segment (CBS) program for the new OmegA rocket. Casting primarily involves filling the rocket motor with propellant, and the casting team completed this process on a CASTOR® 600 aft segment in late April.

Previously known as Next-Generation Launcher (or NGL), the OmegA rocket has been under development for nearly three years as part of an Air Force competition to launch intermediate to heavy-class national security payloads into orbit. As one of Orbital ATK's top initiatives, OmegA has received full company commitment and investment to ensure the program meets major milestones, including this cast. The approximately 12-foot-diameter CASTOR 600 aft segment is a pathfinder for this program and underwent the same steps as a live motor segment, which enables the team to uncover any process issues early on. The CASTOR 600 is the first stage of the intermediate OmegA rocket, and CASTOR 300 is the rocket's second stage.

The CASTOR 600 aft segment is the heaviest of the CBS motor segments. This first cast required a record 55 600-gallon mixes of propellant. For comparison purposes, the second heaviest cast rocket motor segment cast at the company's Promontory, Utah, facility is a NASA Space Launch System booster forward segment requiring 45 600-gallon mixes.

"I'm proud of our team for the tremendous accomplishment in meeting this milestone for our OmegA rocket," said Charlie Precourt, Vice President and General Manager of Orbital ATK's Propulsion Systems Division. "We look forward to our ground tests next year and flight tests in 2021."

The next CBS cast will be the CASTOR 600 inert forward segment this summer. Following that successful cast, three live propellant casts for static test motors will begin.

The first static test for the program is a CASTOR 600 (two segments), and the second is a CASTOR 300 (single segment). Planned for 2019, these two tests will verify the first and second stage performance for the intermediate vehicle configuration, which will make up the majority of the anticipated OmegA flights expected to begin in three years.

posted 05-30-2019 06:58 PM               

Northrop Grumman Successfully Completes First Stage Test for OmegA Rocket

OmegA on track to support certification launch in 2021

Northrop Grumman Corporation successfully conducted a full-scale static fire test of the first stage of its new OmegA rocket today in Promontory, Utah. This milestone keeps OmegA on track to perform its first launch in 2021 and begin operational launches of national security payloads in 2022.

"The OmegA rocket is a top priority and our team is committed to provide the U.S. Air Force with assured access to space for our nation's most critical payloads," said Scott Lehr, vice president and general manager, flight systems, Northrop Grumman. "We committed to test the first stage of OmegA in spring 2019, and that's exactly what we've done."

During today's test, the first stage motor fired for approximately 122 seconds, producing more than two million pounds of maximum thrust—roughly the equivalent to that of eight-and-a-half jumbo jets. The test verified the performance of the motor's ballistics, insulation and joints as well as control of the nozzle position.

Last October, the U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $792 million contract to complete detailed design and verification of OmegA and launch sites. Today's test verified performance of the first stage solid rocket motor for the intermediate version of OmegA.

The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act specified that a domestic next-generation rocket propulsion system "shall be developed by not later than 2019." With today's successful test fire, Northrop Grumman demonstrated the company is on track to meet this Congressionally-mandated schedule.

"Congratulations to the entire team on today's successful test," said Kent Rominger, OmegA vice president, Northrop Grumman. "OmegA's design using flight-proven hardware enables our team to meet our milestones and provide an affordable launch system that meets our customer's requirements and timeline."

A full-scale static fire test of OmegA's second stage is planned for this fall.

OmegA's design leverages flight proven technologies from Northrop Grumman's Pegasus, Minotaur and Antares rockets as well as the company's interceptors, targets and strategic rockets. Northrop Grumman has conducted nearly 80 successful space launch missions and has decades of experience launching critical payloads for the U.S. Department of Defense, civil and commercial customers.

The company's vehicle development team is working on the program in Arizona, Utah, Mississippi and Louisiana, with launch integration and operations planned at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The program will also support thousands of jobs across the country in its supply chain.

posted 08-16-2019 08:05 AM               

Apollo to OmegA: NASA signs over legacy launcher for new rocket

A mobile launch platform that 50 years ago supported the first moon landing will now find new use with a commercial rocket.

NASA held a ceremony on Friday morning (Aug. 16) to formally mark the provision of its Apollo 11-legacy mobile launcher to Northrop Grumman. The agency agreed to the company's use of the Mobile Launcher Platform-3 (MLP-3), as well as High Bay 2 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to support Northrop Grumman's new OmegA launch vehicle.

posted 12-12-2019 07:08 AM               

Northrop Grumman Signs Customer for First Flight of OmegA

OmegA rocket will launch up to two NationSats for Saturn Satellite Networks on certification flight for the US Air Force NSSL program in spring 2021

Northrop Grumman Corporation announced that Saturn Satellite Networks has selected the OmegA space launch vehicle to launch up to two satellites on the rocket's inaugural flight scheduled for spring 2021. OmegA will launch from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39B and insert the SSN satellites into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

"The OmegA rocket expands Northrop Grumman's launch capabilities beyond our small and medium class rockets, which have successfully launched nearly 80 missions," said Scott Lehr, vice president and general manager, flight systems, Northrop Grumman. "Expanding the company's launch capabilities to the intermediate/heavy class with OmegA complements our national security satellite portfolio and enables us to better support our customers."

Jim Simpson, CEO of Saturn, said, "We are excited to launch Saturn's NationSat on Northrop Grumman's OmegA launch vehicle's inaugural mission. OmegA's performance, payload accommodations, and rigorous certification program assures us it is a great fit for NationSats and our customers."

Last October, the U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $792 million Launch Services Agreement to complete detailed design and verification of the OmegA launch vehicle and launch sites.

"The first flight of OmegA is a key step in our certification process for the U.S. Air Force National Security Space Launch program," said Charlie Precourt, vice president, propulsion systems, Northrop Grumman. "Having Saturn's NationSat on board for this mission further demonstrates the versatility of OmegA to serve other markets including commercial and civil government."

Precourt continued, "Our customer's mission comes first, whether OmegA is launching a commercial satellite or a national security payload. At the end of the day, we deliver the customer's spacecraft where it needs to go."

"Northrop Grumman designed OmegA to use the most reliable propulsion available—solid propulsion for the boost stages and flight proven RL10 engines for the upper stage—to ensure exceptional mission assurance for our customers," Precourt added. "Northrop Grumman's technical expertise is both broad and deep, and we bring unmatched experience, stability and a strong customer focus to every partnership."

posted 02-27-2020 04:14 PM               

Northrop Grumman Successfully Completes Second Stage Test for OmegA Rocket

Northrop Grumman Corporation successfully conducted a full-scale static fire test of the second stage of its OmegA rocket today (Feb. 27) in Promontory, Utah. Developed to support the U.S. Space Force's National Security Space Launch program, the OmegA Launch System remains on track for its first certification flight in spring 2021.

During today's test, the second stage motor fired for full-duration, approximately 140 seconds, burning nearly 340,000 pounds of solid propellant to produce upwards of 785,000 pounds of thrust. The test verified the motor's ballistics and thermal performance as well as steering control and performance in a cold-conditioned environment. The test team collected more than 500 channels of data to aid in verifying the motor.

"Northrop Grumman designed OmegA to use the most reliable propulsion available to ensure exceptional mission assurance for our customers," said Charlie Precourt, vice president, propulsion systems, Northrop Grumman. "Today's firing is a significant accomplishment that demonstrates a domestic solution for the RD-180 rocket engine replacement."

In October 2018, the U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $792 million Launch Services Agreement to complete detailed design and verification of the OmegA space launch vehicle and launch sites. Today's cold test, in conjunction with the successful hot static fire in May 2019, subjected OmegA's motors to the most extreme propellant temperatures the rocket will experience during storage, transport, stacking and launch.

Northrop Grumman has leveraged its flight proven technologies and extensive experience launching critical payloads in the development of the OmegA launch system. The rocket was designed to accommodate national security payloads while also serving the civil and commercial markets.

In preparation for OmegA's inaugural flight, Northrop Grumman now occupies High Bay 2 as the first commercial tenant in NASA's historic Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. Construction crews are currently modifying Mobile Launch Platform-3 to serve as OmegA's assembly and launch platform at Pad 39B.