Shareholders of Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and Orbital Sciences Corporation overwhelmingly approved the mergers of the two companies in separate meetings on Tuesday.
In a statement, ATK said approximately 97 percent of the votes cast were in favor of the merger, representing approximately 77 percent of the total outstanding shares of the company’s common stock. Orbital said approximately 99 percent of the votes cast were in favor, representing approximately 85 percent of outstanding shares.
The first qualification motor for NASA’s Space Launch System’s booster is installed in ATK’s test stand in Utah and is ready for a March 11 static-fire test. (Credit:
ATK)
PROMONTORY, Utah (ATK PR) – NASA and ATK (NYSE: ATK) have completed installing the first Space Launch System booster qualification motor, QM-1, in a specialized test stand in Utah. The largest solid rocket motor ever built for flight, QM-1 is now being prepared for its static-fire test, which is scheduled for March 11.
“Testing before flight is critical to ensure reliability and safety when launching crew into space,” said Charlie Precourt, vice president and general manager of ATK’s Space Launch division. “The QM-1 static test is an important step in further qualifying this new five-segment solid rocket motor for the subsequent planned missions to send astronauts to deep space.”
SpaceX Founder Elon Musk has long talked about disrupting the launch industry with low prices and technological innovations. In 2014, the impacts of those efforts were felt far and wide as competitors responded to the threat the California company posed to their livelihoods.
ULA Pivots. With SpaceX reeling off one successful launch after another, ULA pivoted on several fronts. One was to announce efforts to significantly reduce costs on its highly reliable but pricey Atlas V and Delta IV boosters. But, even that proved to be insufficient as SpaceX threatened ULA on several fronts.
ARLINGTON, Va. (ATK PR) – ATK (NYSE: ATK) and NASA have announced an agreement to support near-term core technologies for space logistics, hosted payloads, and space transportation.
The Space Act Agreement (SAA) allows ATK’s Space Systems division and NASA to collaborate on technologies and new product development that meet the needs of the emerging satellite transport and space logistics industry. The SAA is an unfunded partnership through NASA’s Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities Office at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA announced Tuesday the selection of four U.S. companies to collaborate with NASA through unfunded partnerships to develop new space capabilities available to the government and other customers. The partnerships build on the success of NASA’s commercial spaceflight initiatives to leverage NASA experience and expertise into new capabilities.
The Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities (CCSC) initiative is designed to advance private sector development of integrated space capabilities through access to NASA’s spaceflight resources and ensure emerging products or services are commercially available to government and non-government customers within approximately the next five years.
Alaska Aerospace Corporation has selected Lockheed Martin to launch medium-lift rockets from the Kodiak Launch Complex: Lockheed Martin beat out three other bidders to reconfigure launch pad one at the Kodiak site, officials with the Alaska Aerospace Corp. said during a news conference in Anchorage. “It’s is a great day,” said Craig Campbell, the corporation’s CEO and president. “It’s what we’ve been trying to achieve for a number of years. […]
ARLINGTON, Virg., Dec. 4, 2014 (ATK/Orbital PR) — Alliant Techsystems Inc. (“ATK”) (NYSE: ATK) and Orbital Sciences Corporation (“Orbital”) (NYSE: ORB) announced that the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has unconditionally cleared the proposed merger of ATK’s Aerospace and Defense Groups with Orbital. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) informed ATK and Orbital today, December 4, 2014, that the FTC and DOJ terminated the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period effective December 4, […]
ARLINGTON, Va. (ATK/Orbital Sciences PR) — Alliant Techsystems Inc. (“ATK”) (ATK) and Orbital Sciences Corporation (“Orbital”) (ORB) announced today that the two companies have set January 27, 2015 as the new date for their separate, special stockholder meetings in connection with the proposed transaction to spin off ATK’s Sporting Group business and immediately thereafter, merge ATK’s Aerospace and Defense Groups with Orbital. On October 28, 2014, both companies communicated they would hold separate, special stockholder meetings on December 9, 2014 for ATK stockholders to vote on the issuance of shares to stockholders of Orbital and for Orbital stockholders to vote on the proposed transaction. Following this announcement on October 28, 2014, a failure occurred during Orbital’s Antares launch. Since the incident, the companies have conducted a thorough review and analysis of the launch failure and Orbital’s proposed recovery plan and long-term competitive position. Following this review, ATK’s board of directors continues to support the strategic merits of the transaction and recommends that ATK stockholders vote to approve the issuance of shares to Orbital stockholders. Orbital’s board of directors also continues to recommend that Orbital stockholders vote to approve the proposed transaction.
Orbital Sciences stock took a major nose dive today following the failure of the company’s Antares launch vehicle last night. The stock is down more than 15 percent today. Orbital officials held a conference call with investors and analysts earlier today. [Transcript] David W. Thompson, CEO and chairman, and Garrett E. Pierce, CFO and vice chairman, spoke during the call. Below is a summary of the major points they made: […]
Arlington, Va., Sept. 23, 2014 (ATK PR) – ATK (NYSE: ATK) has provided the U.S. Air Force an American-made commercial solid rocket solution as a replacement for the RD-180 Russian-made, first-stage engine of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V launch vehicle.
“ATK’s solid rocket propulsion solution provides a cost-effective, reliable solution based on advanced technology,” said Blake Larson, president of ATK’s Aerospace Group. “I am confident our solution will meet the capabilities of the current RD-180 engine and provide added performance if required.”
