NASA Awards $27 Million Satellite Contract

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has awarded a $27 million contract to Dulles, VA-based Orbital Sciences Corp. for its Millennium Mission satellite program. Orbital will design, develop and manufacture the next satellite in the series of spacecraft under NASA’s New Millennium project. According to a United Press International report, Orbital will also provide the mission's launch vehicle and related services under a separate NASA contract.

Officials at NASA’s Pasadena, CA-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory said the new satellite would be used to validate four advanced technologies in space for possible use in future NASA science missions. Experiments include use of a large flexible solar array, a 131-foot deployable boom, high radiation environment electronics, and a spacecraft thermal control device. The mission is scheduled for launch in 2009.