The First Space 2.0: Orbital Sciences

Article

“The First Space 2.0: Orbital Sciences” by Scott Sacknoff
Published in Quest Volume: 30 #2 (2023)

Abstract

Like today, the 1980s and 1990s saw a wave of commercial space activity as firms sought to capture a piece of this emerging industry. One of the leading space infrastructure firms to emerge from this period was Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC). These two pages serve as an introduction to the commercial space market and the subsequent period article and oral history that provide details on the foundations of OSC, the business of space environment at that time, and their initial product, the TOS (Transfer Orbit Stage), designed to launch spacecraft from the Space Shuttle payload bay.

Citation

Sacknoff, Scott. “The First Space 2.0: Orbital Sciences.” Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly 30, no. 2 (2023): 21-22.