Overview

Orbital is one of the industry's leading providers of satellites used to conduct Earth and space science missions and in-orbit technology demonstrations. Over the past two decades, Orbital has delivered over 115 small satellites for national security, commercial communications, Earth and space science, remote imaging and technology demonstration missions. Our flight-proven spacecraft can support a variety of payloads and are highly reliable, having amassed over 700 years of in-orbit experience.

Earth and Space Science

Working hand-in-hand with Principal Investigators and NASA, we have developed affordable and reliable spacecraft busses designed to support a variety of Earth and space science payloads and missions. Current programs include the NASA-funded Glory, Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), and Gravity and Extreme Magnetism (GEMS) missions.

Recent and past programs have included the NASA-funded Dawn planetary spacecraft, as well low-earth orbit NASA satellite missions such as the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM), Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE), and Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIMSAT). For the National Space Program Office (NSPO) of Taiwan, Republic of China, Orbital provided the six micro satellite FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC constellation.

Technology Demonstration

Orbital has also been a key provider of small satellites used to demonstrate and test new technologies. Our flight-proven and reliable spacecraft busses are ideal for short duration missions to test and validate new technologies in space.