Posted: Fri, Oct 31, 2003, 11:44 AM ET (1644 GMT)
Orbital Sciences Corporation reported Thursday that it has won orders for four launches of NASA spacecraft. The award, made under NASA's Small Expendable Launch Vehicles Services (SELVS) contract with Orbital that dates back to 1998, covers two launches of Pegasus vehicles and two of Taurus vehicles over a two-year period starting in 2006. The two Pegasus launches will be used for the Space Technology 8 and Small Explorer 10 missions, while the two Taurus launches will be for the GLORY and Orbiting Carbon Observatory missions. The latter two spacecraft will also be built by Orbital. The value of the launch orders was not announced, but a NASA planning document published earlier this year priced a Pegasus launch at $29-34 million and a Taurus launch at $46-48 million.

Related Links:

•  Orbital press release
•  NASA document with Pegasus and Taurus prices