Orbital to launch AIM scientific spacecraft for NASA aboard Pegasus rocket

DULLES, Va., 25 April 2007. Orbital Sciences Corporation is in final preparations to launch the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite that the company designed, manufactured, and tested for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The AIM satellite will be launched aboard Orbital's Pegasus rocket in a mission that will originate from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), Calif. The mission is scheduled to take place April 25 during an available launch window that extends from 1:23 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. (PDT). This operational schedule is subject to the completion of final pre-launch activities, as well as acceptable weather conditions at VAFB at the time of the launch.

The powered flight sequence for the AIM mission is expected to take approximately 11 minutes, from the time the Pegasus rocket is released from the L-1011 carrier aircraft to the time that the satellite is deployed into orbit. The targeted orbit for the 440-pound AIM satellite is approximately 375 miles above the Earth in a polar orbit, inclined at 97.77 degrees to the equator.