ATK has completed an on-pad pathfinder operation of its launch vehicle, the ALV, which is scheduled for its first mission in 2007, the company announced Oct. 10.
The flight of the ALV X-1, which will carry a hypersonic boundary layer transition experiment payload for NASA, is part of the company’s plan to develop a low-cost launch vehicle for the operationally responsive space market. Along with NASA, other possible customers for the vehicle, designed to loft payloads into low-earth orbit, will be the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, university satellite programs and commercial companies, ATK said.
