Lockheed and ATK revive Athena rocket program
Posted: Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 7:02 AM ET (1102 GMT)
Lockheed Martin and Alliant Techsystems announced Thursday that they were introducing the Athena line of small launch vehicles, primarily to go after civil and military government customers. The two-stage Athena 1c and three-stage Athena 2c will be able launch payloads of up to approximately 1,700 kilograms to low Earth orbit starting in 2012. The companies said the vehicles will use a new upper stage motor, the Castor 30, as well as upgraded electronics. They hope to attract business from NASA and Defense Department customers. The companies said the vehicles would be sold "at an affordable price" without being more specific; pricing is said to be "cost-competitive" to the Minotaur series of small launchers marketed by Orbital Sciences Corporation. The original Athena rockets launched seven times, with two failures, between 1995 and 2001.
Lockheed Martin and Alliant Techsystems announced Thursday that they were introducing the Athena line of small launch vehicles, primarily to go after civil and military government customers. The two-stage Athena 1c and three-stage Athena 2c will be able launch payloads of up to approximately 1,700 kilograms to low Earth orbit starting in 2012. The companies said the vehicles will use a new upper stage motor, the Castor 30, as well as upgraded electronics. They hope to attract business from NASA and Defense Department customers. The companies said the vehicles would be sold "at an affordable price" without being more specific; pricing is said to be "cost-competitive" to the Minotaur series of small launchers marketed by Orbital Sciences Corporation. The original Athena rockets launched seven times, with two failures, between 1995 and 2001.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, September 5
HawkEye 360 Confirms Early Lock-up Release for September 2nd; Preliminary Inclusion in Russell 2000
HawkEye 360 — 11:13 am ET (1513 GMT) America’s AI Lead Won’t Win The Next Space Race
Forbes.com — 11:11 am ET (1511 GMT) Agile Space Industries Celebrates Durango Headquarters Expansion with Ribbon Cutting
Agile Space Industires — 11:10 am ET (1510 GMT) Beyer Hails Successful Launch Of Nancy Grace Roman Telescope
US House of Representatives — 11:08 am ET (1508 GMT) ViaSat-3 F3 Satellite Enters Service Across Asia-Pacific
GlobeNewswire — 11:08 am ET (1508 GMT) |
