REDMOND, Wash. - Astrium GmbH (Bremen, Germany) has awarded a $7.9 million contract to General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD). The contract calls for the purchase, over the next two years, of bipropellant Model R-4D-11 rocket engines to support the German/European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV).
The ATV is a human-rated vehicle which will provide supplies and services to the International Space Station. Each ATV vehicle will be equipped with four R-4D-11 engines used for orbit-changing (Delta-V) maneuvers during the ATV’s approach and descent from the International Space Station. The R-4D-11 engines can also be used to re-boost the Space Station to higher orbits when the ATV is docked.
The R-4D-11 bipropellant rocket engine has been the "work-horse" of the satellite industry for decades. It has been used on several human-rated vehicles, and has provided apogee insertion for most geostationary satellites currently on orbit.
General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 46,000 people and anticipates 2001 sales of approximately $11.5 billion. The company has leading market positions in business aviation, information systems, shipbuilding and marine systems, and land and amphibious combat systems.
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