ATK’s (NYSE: ATK) RSMB (Responsive Space Modular Bus) is included in the Department of Defense’s Operationally Responsive Space-1 (ORS-1) satellite, which was successfully launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. on June 29, 2011.
ORS-1 is the first satellite in the DoD’s Operationally Responsive Space program designed to support Combatant Command operations as an operational satellite. The ORS-1 mission focuses on the quick deployment of a small satellite with innovative sensor technologies to provide real-time support to commanders in the battlefield. ATK’s spacecraft bus met the ORS program goals of being operationally responsive with affordable technology and unprecedented rapid execution from design to launch. ATK built the bus in just 16 months at its Beltsville, Maryland facility and shipped it ahead of schedule to Goodrich Corporation, the prime contractor for the ORS-1 satellite. The satellite was developed and delivered in just 30 months, an achievement described by Space Development and Test Directorate acting director Col. Carol Welsch as “accomplishing the impossible.”
“This accomplishment demonstrates the ability to achieve remarkable milestones that were a first for the satellite industry. From design review to production, testing and delivery, the ATK team successfully executed on rigorous mission requirements that met the expectations of our industry and government customers in months instead of years,” said Tom Wilson, vice president and general manager of the Spacecraft Systems & Services division of ATK Aerospace Systems Group. “Our capability to build small satellites quickly and affordably sets us apart and positions us well for future opportunities in this growth market.”
The satellite bus is based on the design ATK developed for the successful TacSat-3 satellite (an earlier demonstration program) with the addition of a propulsion module. The satellite launched in 2009, transitioned to full operation in October 2010, and continues to support warfighters in the battlefield. ATK’s San Diego facility in California also provided the ORS-1 payload’s telescope structure under subcontract to Goodrich. Working closely with Goodrich, the team accomplished a challenging schedule of hardware delivery within eight months. The ORS-1 program is managed and executed by the Space Development & Test Directorate, SMC/SD at Kirtland Air Force Base. SMC/SD is executing the program for the ORS Office, which is a joint initiative of several agencies within the DoD responsible for integrating joint ORS capabilities and applying ORS resources to the development, acquisition and demonstration of capabilities to meet specific responsive space needs as established by global combatant command joint force commanders.
