Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB)
announced today that its Orbital/Suborbital Program Target Launch
Vehicle (OSP
TLV) successfully completed its mission as the target vehicle for
yesterday’s
Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) segment of the U.S. Department of
Defense’s
missile defense program, which is being led by the Ballistic Missile Defense
Organization (BMDO). The launch of the company’s Minuteman-based OSP
TLV marks
the first time that Orbital has provided the primary target vehicle for
the GMD
segment. Orbital became the primary target vehicle supplier for the GMD
segment
under the OSP contract, which was awarded to the company by the U.S. Air
Force
in 1997. This mission was the second flight of the OSP TLV. Previously,
Orbital
conducted a successful TLV demonstration flight in May 2000.

At approximately 10:00 p.m. (Eastern time), the OSP TLV was launched from
Vandenberg Air Force Base in California over the Pacific Ocean, where it was
intercepted by an Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle that was launched from the
Ronald
Reagan Test Site in the Marshall Islands.

“We are exceptionally proud to have played a key role in the success of
the GMD
test,” said Mr. Ronald J. Grabe, Orbital’s Executive Vice President and
General
Manager of its Launch Systems Group. “Our launch team is fully committed to
maintaining the operational excellence, displayed in this test, for
future GMD
missions.”

In addition to its new role as the primary target supplier for GMD,
Orbital also
supplies target launch vehicles for numerous other missile defense-related
programs. These include the U.S. Navy’s Theater Wide and Area Wide
programs,
the U.S. Army’s THAAD, PAC-3, TCMP and SRALT programs, and a new liquid fuel
propulsion system that may be used in the U.S. Air Force’s Airborne Laser
program.

Orbital develops and manufactures affordable space systems, including
satellites, launch vehicles, electronics and advanced space systems.
Orbital is
also involved with satellite-based networks that provide wireless data
communications and high-resolution Earth imagery to customers around the
world.
More information about Orbital can be found at http://www.orbital.com