Milestones

2000

• Orbital completes a new, state-of-the-art satellite manufacturing facility at its main Virginia campus and starts to consolidate its satellite operations
• The company expands its market for target vehicles, winning a major U.S. Navy contract to develop a supersonic sea-skimming target that will simulate anti-ship cruise missiles for fleet training and weapon systems research, development, test and evaluation
• The Minotaur rocket, incorporating surplus government missile assets, makes its debut with two missions launching a total of 12 satellites
• Pegasus marks its ten-year anniversary, conducting its 30th mission. In its first decade of operation, Pegasus launched 69 satellites from six different locations worldwide, the first time a launch vehicle has displayed such operational flexibility

2001

• Orbital receives orders to build three C-band GEO communications satellites from PanAmSat, the operator of one of the world's largest communications satellite fleets
• Our BSAT-2a satellite built for Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation is successfully launched and begins providing direct-to-home television service to households throughout Japan
• The company is awarded $53 million in contracts associated with NASA's Space Launch Initiative to develop technologies for the next generation of space launch vehicles
• In support of the nation's missile defense programs, Orbital is awarded over $60 million in contracts from various Department of Defense programs

2002

• Orbital is selected by The Boeing Company to develop, build, test and support missile interceptor booster vehicles, under the company's largest contract ever, a $900 million award spanning a seven-year period
• The company celebrates its 20th Anniversary in April, as demand for its missile defense technologies surges
• Our newest GEO satellite platform, the high-power Star-2 bus, is used in its first mission in July, as the basis for NTT DoCoMo's N-STARc satellite
• Orbital completes 2002 with a flawless 12-for-12 mission reliability record, bringing its cumulative experience to 255 successes in 267 space missions carried out since 1982

2003

• Orbital launches its first two interceptor booster vehicles for Boeing, demonstrating its performance and design; Boeing increases Orbital's contract to 28 interceptors
• The company delivers, launches and checks out five satellites, including its first GEO communications satellite for PanAmSat and two scientific spacecraft for NASA
• Pegasus carries out four successful launches in a seven month period, boosting its recent record to 21 consecutive flawless flights in the last six years

2004

• Orbital carries out the third consecutive successful launch of its missile defense interceptor booster
• Orbital successfully launches Taiwan's ROCSAT-2 satellite aboard a Taurus XL rocket. It was the seventh launch in the Taurus program's history and the inaugural flight of the enhanced performance XL version
• Orbital's Hyper-X booster, a modified Pegsaus rocket, propels NASA's X-43 scramjet to speeds approaching Mach 10 (ten times the speed of sound) setting the world speed record for an "air breathing" (jet-powered) vehicle. A launch earlier in the year propels X-43 to Mach 7 (5,000 miles per hour)
• Six OBV missile defense interceptor boosters are emplaced in silos at Ft. Greeley, Alaska, and a seventh at Vandenberg Air force Base, California representing the first line of defense against long-range ballistic missile attack against the United States
• Orbital conducts three successful launches of its GQM-163A "Coyote" supersonic sea skimming target rocket for the U.S. Navy, representing the first successful development and flight test program of a new domestic ramjet missile configuration in over a decade

2005

• Orbital conducts its 500th mission since the company’s founding in 1982
• Orbital receives orders for four GEO communications satellites: THOR IIR for Telenor of Norway; Horizons-2 for a PanAmSat/JSAT joint venture; PAS-11 for PanAmSat; and MEASAT-1R for MEASAT Satellite Systems of Malaysia
• The company conducts two Minotaur launches, boosting military satellites into orbit and extending Minotaur's 100% mission success rate
• The Galaxy 14 and 15 GEO communications satellites are successfully launched for PanAmSat
• Orbital’s IBEX satellite is selected by NASA to map the edge of the solar system
• Orbital's GMD missile defense interceptor successfully carries out its fourth flight test

2006

• The company receives $1.79 billion in new orders (firm orders, options and exercises under previously-awarded contracts), the fifth consecutive year with orders in excess of $1 billion
• The Optus D1 communications satellite is delivered and launched into orbit for Optus Networks of Australia
• Orbital conducts one Pegasus and two Minotaur I space launch missions, successfully orbiting a total of 10 satellites
• The Company’s Transportation Management Systems division wins seven major contracts totaling more than $85 million
• Orbital is awarded contracts for the AMC-21 and NSS-9 GEO communications satellites by SES AMERICOM and SES NEW SKIES respectively
• Orbital’s OBV missile defense interceptor conducts its fifth consecutive successful launch for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program

2007

• Orbital celebrates the 25th anniversary of its founding
• Dawn, Orbital’s first interplanetary spacecraft, is launched on a eight year, three-billion-mile journey to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter
• Orbital is selected to provide abort test boosters for unmanned flight tests of the Orion crew capsule in tests similar to the Apollo-era Little Joe test boosters
• Orbital receives firm orders for five GEO communications satellites with options for up to four additional spacecraft from leading satellite operators SES Americom, Intelsat and Optus Networks.
• Orbital carries out two space launches: Orbital-built AIM satellite is successfully launched abroad a Pegasus rocket and the NFIRE satellite is launched aboard a Minotaur I rocket for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency
• Orbital receives a contract for the NASA-funded NuSTAR scientific satellite to  detect and map black holes and other energetic phenomena in the universe
• Orbital’s new business activity (contract awards and option exercises) sets a new company record, exceeding $2 billion

2008

• Orbital receives a long-term NASA contract to provide cargo transportation services to and from the International Space Station (ISS) with a value of approximately $1.9 billion for missions from 2011- 2015
• The company conducts the 39th and 40th launches of its Pegasus® rocket, successfully launching the company-built Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) satellite for NASA and the C/NOFS spacecraft for the U.S. Air Force
• Under a NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement, Orbital begins development of the Taurus II medium-class space launch vehicle and the Cygnus spacecraft to deliver supplies to the International Space Station
• Orbital opens a Southern California engineering center and begins major expansion efforts at its Dulles, Virginia and Chandler, Arizona campuses
• The THOR 5 and AMC-21 commercial communications Satellites are successfully launched and placed into service, and the company receives contracts for four additional satellites from Intelsat, Ltd, KT Corporation and SES Americom
• Orbital receives contracts for one Minotaur I and three Minotaur IV and space launch vehicles for missions to take place between 2010 and 2011
• Orbital closes the sale of its Transportation Management Systems (TMS) business, completing its divestiture of non-core assets

2009

• The Orbital-built NSS-9, MEASAT-3a, Optus D3 and Intelsat-15 GEO communications satellites are launched and begin commercial service
• Orbital receives its first order for a high-energy Minotaur V rocket to launch NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft on a trajectory to orbit the Moon
• The company is awarded a NASA contract for the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism (GEMS) satellite to study x-ray polarization in space.  It is the eighth Orbital spacecraft to be based on Orbital’s LeoStar™-2 platform
• Orbital successfully launches the TacSat-3 satellite for the U.S. Air Force aboard a Minotaur I rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia.  In addition, the company receives a NASA contract to launch the Orbital-built NuSTAR science satellite aboard a Pegasus rocket
• Orbital receives contracts for four GEO communications satellites: New Dawn, Intelsat 23 and HYLAS 2 and OverHorizon

1980 - 1989 | 1990 - 1999 | 2010 - Present