Orbital ATK reports it has been selected by NASA as the prime contractor for the NASA Sounding Rockets Operations Contract III (NSROC III) program. The award is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods and is valued at approximately $200 million. Orbital ATK won the new contract in an open competition and has served as the prime contractor on the program since 2010.

During that time, the company supported 94 sounding rocket launches and set the record for 41 consecutive successful missions, the most in the 57-year history of the program. Sounding rockets are used to conduct suborbital missions for scientific and atmospheric research.

Under the NSROC III program, which is centered at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, Orbital ATK's Technical Services division will plan, coordinate and carry out suborbital research rocket missions from locations in the United States and around the world. The Orbital ATK team will also work with the NASA Sounding Rockets program to develop and implement additional capabilities.

"We are honored to continue our legacy of support to NASA's sounding rocket program under NSROC III," said John Pullen, Vice President and General Manager, Technical Services Division of Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group.

"We have partnered with NASA and the Wallops Flight Facility team for many years both as a subcontractor and prime contractor under NSROC I and NSROC II. Our proven capability in executing successful missions will help ensure that NASA retains its position as the world leader in sounding rocket technology and suborbital space and Earth science research."

Orbital ATK and its teammates expect to employ technical and administrative staff at Wallops Flight Facility and White Sands Missile Range over the term of the contract. Orbital ATK's teammates include three small businesses: LJT and Associates, Inc., the Hammers Company, and Hawk Institute for Space Sciences.

In addition to NSROC III, the company supports another high-altitude scientific research program for NASA. Orbital ATK is the prime contractor for the NASA Balloon Operations contract, which is administered by the Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility and is managed from the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) in Palestine, Texas. The CSBF staff has launched more than 1,700 scientific balloons from seven countries in the past 35 years.