Orbital and NASA Postpone DART Launch

Contact: Barron Beneski, (703) 406-5000,

Orbital and NASA Postpone DART Launch

(Dulles, VA 28 October 2004) Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) and
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have postponed the
launch of the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART)
spacecraft that was scheduled for today. The postponement was due to the
discovery of particulate contamination inside the fairing of the Pegasus
launch vehicle. The launch team does not expect to carry out the mission
before November 4, 2004.

During the final flight preparations for the DART/Pegasus launch, closeout
team members found pieces of aluminum foil from the launch vehicle's
fairing. As a result, the vehicle will be de-mated from the carrier aircraft
and returned to the vehicle assembly building, where it will be inspected.

The DART mission was postponed twice this week. The first postponement was
due to a dropout of Global Positioning Satellite data of the target vehicle,
which was resolved.

DART is a flight demonstrator that provides a key step in establishing
autonomous rendezvous capabilities for the U.S. space program and the Vision
for Space Exploration. While previous rendezvous and docking efforts have
been piloted by astronauts, the unmanned DART spacecraft will have only
computers and sensors to perform all of its rendezvous functions.

Future applications of technologies developed by the DART project will
benefit the nation in future space systems development requiring in-space
assembly, services, or other autonomous rendezvous operations.


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info