REDONDO BEACH, Calif., Feb. 9, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The 22nd Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite built by a Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) team is scheduled for launch on Feb. 14 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Launch Complex 40. The four-hour launch window opens at 1:21 p.m. EST.
Flight 22 will be the fifth and final DSP satellite to be launched aboard a Titan IVB into a geo-synchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth. Following separation from the Inertial Upper Stage seven hours after launch, DSP will join the existing DSP constellation to provide early warning of strategic and tactical ballistic missile launches.
Known for exceptional reliability, DSP satellites have demonstrated their continued utility since 1970 through peacetime and conflict, including during Operation Iraqi Freedom. DSP satellites have exceeded their specified design lives by nearly 250 percent through multiple upgrades to meet evolving threats.
Background information, photographs and video are available at: www.northropgrumman.com.
Northrop Grumman has built and integrated 23 DSP spacecraft and missile-detecting infrared sensors. The company also provides day-to-day technical assistance at Schriever and Buckley Air Force Bases; conducts satellite performance analysis, anomaly resolution and early on-orbit testing at its Orbital Test Station; and has built software systems that help to process, display and distribute DSP satellite data to national command authorities.
Northrop Grumman is one of the nation's leading missile defense prime contractors. The company was recently awarded a multi-billion dollar contract by the Department of Defense's Missile Defense Agency to serve as prime contractor for the Kinetic Energy Interceptors and is also prime contractor for the Space Tracking and Surveillance System missile tracking system.
LEARN MORE ABOUT US: Northrop Grumman news releases, product information, photos and video clips are available on the Internet at: http://www.northropgrumman.com