DENVER, Colo., 1 March 2006. Lockheed Martin has announced that the ORBUS 1A second- and third-stage solid rocket motor, supplied by Alliant Techsystems, has completed qualification testing for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's (MDA's) Boost Vehicle-Plus (BV+) program.
The final qualification test of the ORBUS 1A was conducted at the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee. The motor, test fired in a simulated at-altitude environment, is said to have met all pre-test performance requirements, according to preliminary results.
The ATK-supplied ORBUS 1A motors will be used to complete production of five deployment-configuration boosters and three integrated flight test vehicles.
The Boeing Company selected Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company as the BV+ subcontractor in 2003, and the BV+ booster was validated with a successful first flight in January 2004. In November 2004, Lockheed Martin announced the selection of ATK as its supplier for BV+ stage-two and stage-three solid rocket motors to replace the previous supplier. Lockheed Martin performs BV+ program management, engineering and production at its facilities in Denver, Colo., Sunnyvale, Calif., and Courtland, Ala.
