by Frank Sietzen "SpaceCast News Service"
Washington, DC Jan. 27, 1998 - NASA has selected Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va. as the second U.S. maker of small satellites to win a multi-year contract under the new Rapid Spacecraft initiative project. The contract covers six of the firm's spacecraft designs.
The award, which
covers three years under the Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity
structure, pre-qualifies OSC satellites for mission selection under the
space agency's Rapid Spacecraft Development initiative.
Approved for use under the award are OSC's PicoStar, MicroStar, PegaStar,
LEOStar, and FUSE satellite bus designs. The StarBus system, which can
support small satellite flights to medium and geostationary orbits, was
also added to the pre-approved list Monday.
The OSC satellite designs join Ball Aerospace of Boulder, Colo. as elements
of the Rapid Spacecraft catalog. Late last year, NASA chose Ball to build
the first RS project, the ocean wind research satellite Quickscat, planned
for launch aboard a retired Air Force Titan II ballistic missile in
November 1998. In addition to OSC and Ball satellite designs, NASA has
selected Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space, Sunnyvale, Calif., Space
Systems L oral, Palo Alto, Calif., Spectrum Astro Gilbert, AZ., Swales
Aerospace Beltsville, MD., and TRW, Inc, of Redondo Beach, Calif. to
participate in the RSD initiative.
Orbital
