Pegasus Rocket Carrying CYGNSS Spacecraft Set to Launch

December 12, 2016

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Orbital ATK (NYSE:OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, announced it is prepared to launch the company’s air-launched Pegasus rocket aboard its Stargazer L-1011 airplane from Cape Canaveral on Monday, December 12 at approximately 8:24 a.m. EST. Pegasus will be carrying NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) to study the inner core of tropical cyclones. The data provided will help scientists and meteorologists better understand and predict the path of a hurricane.

Pegasus is the world’s first privately developed commercial rocket and the leading launch system for the deployment of small satellites into Low-Earth orbit. The Pegasus rocket is launched from beneath Orbital ATK's Stargazer L-1011 carrier airplane, providing customers with unparalleled flexibility to operate from virtually anywhere on Earth with minimal ground support requirements.

As a NASA Category 3 certified launch vehicle, Pegasus is able to launch NASA’s most valuable satellites. The launch was provided through NASA Launch Services Program (LSP) who acts as a broker, matching spacecraft with launch vehicles. This will be the first Pegasus mission in 13 years to launch from Cape Canaveral. The previous 42 Pegasus missions have been conducted from six separate sites in the U.S., Europe and the Marshall Islands.

Source : Orbital ATK, Inc.