Continuing its successful year-long
campaign to reduce debt, boost cash and return the company’s primary focus to
its core space technology products, Orbital Sciences Corporation
announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement with the Hamilton
Sundstrand unit of United Technologies Corporation for the sale of
the company’s Pomona, California-based Sensor Systems Division (SSD) for
approximately $20 million in cash.
Orbital anticipates that the transaction
will close in September.

Orbital’s SSD designs, manufactures and supports sophisticated sensors and
analytical instruments for defense, space and industrial applications. Its
main products are atmosphere monitors, space instruments, chemical and
biological agent detection devices and commercial process analyzers.
Acquired
from Perkin-Elmer Corporation in 1993, SSD has operated as part of Orbital’s
Electronics and Sensors Systems Group since 1996.
With revenues of about $35
million in 2000, SSD employs approximately 250 people in a 135,000 square foot
engineering and production facility located 25 miles northeast of downtown Los
Angeles.

“The sale of our Sensor Systems Division represents the fourth major non-
core asset divestiture that we have announced in the past year,” said Mr.
David W. Thompson, Orbital’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
“SSD’s
technological depth, product line breadth and program experience should allow
it to contribute powerfully as part of Hamilton Sundstrand.
On behalf of all
their colleagues at Orbital, I want to thank SSD’s people for their
outstanding service to the company over the past 8 years and to wish them well
in their future endeavors,” he added.

“With this transaction, Orbital’s strategy of refocusing on our core space
technology products — space and suborbital launch vehicles, low-orbit and
geosynchronous orbit satellites, and advanced space systems — is now largely
complete.
Going forward, our primary emphasis will be on achieving profitable
growth in all our core space product lines, while maintaining vigorous
technological innovation and rigorous quality standards in our operations,”
Mr. Thompson concluded.

Orbital develops and manufactures affordable space systems, including
satellites, launch vehicles, and advanced space systems.
Orbital is also
involved with satellite-based networks that provide wireless data
communications and high-resolution Earth imagery to customers all around the
world.

More information about Orbital can be found at http://www.orbital.com .