NASA Awards Launch Services Contract For OCO-2 Mission

CONTRACT RELEASE : C10-036 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. NASA has selected Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., to launch the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission. The spacecraft will fly in February 2013 aboard a Taurus XL 3110 rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The total cost of the OCO-2 launch services is approximately $70 million. The estimated cost includes the task ordered launch service for a Taurus XL 3110 rocket, plus additional services under other contracts for payload processing, OCO-2 mission unique support, launch vehicle integration, and tracking, data and telemetry support. OCO-2 is a NASA's first mission dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide.