The launch is scheduled to occur at 11:40 a.m. EDT on Thursday from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, subject to final pre-launch testing and acceptable weather conditions at launch time.

The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) is the prime contractor for the FUSE program, a scientific mission funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to explore the origin and evolution of galaxies, stars and solar systems.

NASA has used the FUSE program as a model for its planned series of Mid-Class Explorer (MIDEX) missions, incorporating new guidelines and techniques to generate high-quality scientific results while reducing mission costs and development cycles.

Orbital began work on the 3,000 lb. (1,350 kg) FUSE spacecraft in August 1995 with responsibility for the design, fabrication, integration, test and mission operations support of the spacecraft bus.

Following delivery of the completed spacecraft to JHU in April 1998, Orbital's FUSE team has supported integration of the JHU-built science instrument (a far ultraviolet spectroscope) and testing of the entire satellite.

The Orbital team will now provide launch support from Cape Canaveral and early mission operations support from the FUSE satellite control center at JHU's Baltimore, Maryland campus.

To help meet NASA's performance, cost and schedule goals, Orbital used flight-proven technologies adapted from previous spacecraft, including successful Explorer-class missions such as the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) and the X-ray Timing Explorer (XTE), allowing more of the FUSE program's critical resources to be spent on the scientific aspects of the mission.

Orbital also worked closely with JHU during the spacecraft development phase to address evolving requirements so that no significant design changes occurred and costs were kept to a minimum.

FUSED at SpaceDaily