Posted: Thu, Nov 20, 2014, 8:03 AM ET (1303 GMT)
ATK and Orbital Sciences Corp. announced this week that they have pushed back shareholder votes on their planned merger until late January in response to last month's Antares launch failure. The two companies had scheduled separate votes on December 9 by their respective shareholders on the merger, which was announced in late April. However, the companies have now rescheduled those votes for January 27, and say that, if approved, the merger would close in February. Officials said analysis of the October 28 failure of an Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket, and the company's "go-forward" plan for resuming cargo flights to the International Space Station, prompted the delay. However, the two companies said they remain committed to completing the merger.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Wall Street Journal article
•  Washington Post article
•  ATK press release