AMPAC-ISP and Orbital Sciences Corporation have completed the Pre-Ship Review for the Hydrazine Propulsion Module (HPM) for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) satellite, a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the 8th in the Landsat series.

"This is a significant program milestone supporting final integration of the spacecraft," stated Mike Jones, the responsible Program Engineer at Orbital.

"AMPAC-ISP's deliverable items were 'model examples' for future subsystems, and Orbital has come to expect this level of quality in these products based on the dedicated performance of the entire AMPAC-ISP team." The HPM has been fully integrated at Orbital, and ISP supported successful pressurization and functional testing.

LDCM will continue the 38-year long Landsat land imaging data set. The LDCM satellite will provide measurements of the Earth's terrestrial and Polar Regions in the visible, near-infrared, short wave infrared, and thermal infrared ranges.

In addition to routine use for land use planning and monitoring on regional to local scales, support of disaster response and evaluations, and water use monitoring, LDCM measurements directly serve NASA research in the areas of climate, carbon cycle, ecosystems, water cycle, biogeochemistry, and Earth surface/interior.

AMPAC-ISP has extensive experience in the design and production of liquid propulsion systems, including the hydrazine propulsion module for the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (Fermi) for General Dynamics (now Orbital Sciences).

Additional heritage propulsion systems include the successful Minuteman III PSRE, HAS/Peace Courage hydrazine propulsion system, and Critical Measurements and Counter Measures (CMCM-1, CMCM-2) programs. ISP is currently producing propulsion systems for commercial LEO constellations and target vehicles.

The LDCM HPM uses ISP's MONARC-22 series, 5-Lbf monopropellant thrusters. Production of this series commenced with the first flight of a hydrazine/Shell 405 catalyst thruster on board the ATS-3 in 1967. Since 1967, this thruster series has flown on more than 25 different programs and more than 400 thrusters have been manufactured to date.

"The AMPAC-ISP team is proud of this significant accomplishment in support of the LDCM Satellite Program. We have a great team and our goal is to provide a quality product," said Robert Huebner, American Pacific Corporation, Vice President - AMPAC-ISP.

NASA and the USGS are planning to launch the LDCM in December 2012 from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB).