Jeff Foote, president, ATK Aerospace Propulsion Company, said the two 112-foot-long SRMU boosters performed flawlessly in support of the launch, continuing the company's record of 100-percent mission success.

"The successful launched of a National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base demonstrated once again the consistent and predictable performance we have seen over the course of seven previous Titan IV B missions supported by SRMU boosters," said Foote.

"This repeatable performance provides convincing reinforcement of both our highly controlled manufacturing processes and the outstanding ATK people who build these nationally critical boosters. Another job well done by the SRMU team."

Foote said the launch was the second of three Titan IV B missions scheduled this year.

Flight qualification testing on the SRMU booster was completed in 1993, with the first flight occurring in February 1997. Among the Titan IV B missions since then was the launch of the Cassini/Huygens voyage to Saturn in October 1997.

There are two SRMU boosters on the Titan IV B vehicle, each measuring 112 feet in length and 126 inches in diameter. The three-segment motor cases are made of graphite epoxy composite material, which reduces the inert weight of the SRMU from that of its steel-cased predecessor motor, despite the SRMU's larger size and greater amount of solid propellant. The SRMU also includes advanced electronics that are fully compliant with range safety requirements.

The nation's largest, most powerful expendable launch vehicle, the Titan IV B is capable of boosting up to 47,800 pounds into low-Earth orbit or more than 12,700 pounds into geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth. It is built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company-Astronautics Operations near Denver, Colo.

ATK Aerospace Propulsion Company is part of ATK's Aerospace business segment, which comprises the company's space and strategic propulsion and Utah- and Mississippi-based composite structures operations. The group employs approximately 1,650 people in California, Florida, Mississippi, New York, and Utah. Sales in fiscal year 2000 were $436 million. The SRMU boosters are manufactured at the group's Utah Propulsion Center in Magna, Utah, and Utah Composites Center in Clearfield, Utah.

Titan 4 at Lockheed Martin

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NASA Begins Observation Of Southern African Atmosphere
Pietersburg (AFP) August 18, 2000 -
NASA has begun observing the atmosphere in southern Africa by means of its Terra spacecraft and ER-2 high-altitude aircraft, the University of the Witwatersrand announced here.