Kratos Celebrates 25 Years of Unparalleled Success with Oriole Solid Rocket Motor
Kratos (NASDAQ: KTOS) marks 25 years since the first flight of its commercially developed Oriole solid rocket motor, first launched in 2000 from NASA Wallops. Oriole has a 100% success rate across 80 missions and production has exceeded 100 units. Oriole has served as second/third stage across nine launch configurations, completed >40 Navy ballistic-missile-target missions, supported NASA sounding-rocket science, and delivered 10 hypersonic tests. Kratos developed a Thrust Vector Control in 2012 and recently negotiated a 60-motor contract with deliveries over the next three years.
Kratos (NASDAQ: KTOS) segna 25 anni dalla prima evoluzione del suo motorino a razzo solido Oriole sviluppato commercialmente, iniziato nel 2000 da NASA Wallops. Oriole ha un tasso di successo del 100% su 80 missioni e la produzione ha superato 100 unità. Oriole ha servito come seconda/terza fase in nove configurazioni di lancio, ha completato oltre 40 missioni di puntamento missilistico navale, supportato la scienza dei razzi-sonda della NASA e realizzato 10 test ipersonici. Kratos ha sviluppato un controllo di vettore di spinta nel 2012 e recentemente ha negoziato un contratto da 60 motori con consegne nei prossimi tre anni.
Kratos (NASDAQ: KTOS) celebra 25 años desde el primer vuelo de su motor sólido para cohetes Oriole desarrollado comercialmente, lanzado por primera vez en 2000 desde NASA Wallops. Oriole tiene una tasa de éxito del 100% en 80 misiones y la producción ha superado 100 unidades. Oriole ha servido como segunda/tercera etapa en nueve configuraciones de lanzamiento, completó >40 misiones de blanco de misiles balísticos de la Marina, apoyó la ciencia de cohetes sonda de la NASA y llevó a cabo 10 pruebas hipersónicas. Kratos desarrolló un control de vector de empuje en 2012 y recientemente negoció un contrato de 60 motores con entregas en los próximos tres años.
Kratos (NASDAQ: KTOS) 상용으로 개발된 Oriole 고체 로켓 모터의 최초 비행으로부터 25주년을 맞이합니다. Oriole은 2000년 NASA Wallops에서 처음 발사되었습니다. Oriole은 80건의 임무에서 100% 성공률을 기록했고 생산은 100대 이상를 넘어섰습니다. Oriole은 9가지 발사 구성에서 2단/3단으로 사용되었고, 해군 탄도 미사일 표적 임무를 40건 이상 완료했으며 NASA의 소리 로켓 과학을 지원했고 10건의 초음속 시험을 수행했습니다. Kratos는 2012년에 추력 벡터 제어를 개발했고 최근에는 향후 3년간 납품이 예정된 60대 모터 계약을 협상했습니다.
Kratos (NASDAQ : KTOS) marque 25 ans depuis le premier vol de son moteur à propergol solide Oriole développé commercialement, lancé pour la première fois en 2000 depuis le NASA Wallops. Oriole affiche un taux de réussite de 100 % sur 80 missions et la production a dépassé 100 unités. Oriole a été utilisé comme deuxième/troisième étage dans neuf configurations de lancement, a mené à bien plus de 40 missions de cible balistique navale, a soutenu la science des fusées-sondes de la NASA et a réalisé 10 tests hypersoniques. Kratos a développé un contrôle de vecteur d'impulsion en 2012 et a récemment négocié un contrat de 60 moteurs avec des livraisons au cours des trois prochaines années.
Kratos (NASDAQ: KTOS) feiert 25 Jahre seit dem ersten Flug seines kommerziell entwickelten Oriole-Schubraketenmotors, der erstmals 2000 von der NASA Wallops gestartet wurde. Oriole hat eine 100%-Erfolgsquote über 80 Missionen und die Produktion hat über 100 Einheiten überschritten. Oriole diente als zweite/ dritte Stufe in neun Startkonfigurationen, absolvierte >40 Navy-Ballistikziel-Missionen, unterstützte die NASA-Sondenraktenwissenschaft und führte 10 Hyperschalltests durch. Kratos entwickelte 2012 eine Schubvektorsteuerung und hat kürzlich einen 60-Motoren-Vertrag mit Lieferungen in den nächsten drei Jahren verhandelt.
Kratos (NASDAQ: KTOS) تحتفل بمرور 25 عامًا على أول طيران لمحرك صاروخي صلب Oriole مطور تجاريًا، والذي أُطلق لأول مرة في 2000 من NASA Wallops. لدى Oriole معدل نجاح 100% عبر 80 مهمة، والإنتاج تجاوز 100 وحدة. خدم Oriole كمرحلة ثانية/ثالثة عبر تسع تكوينات إطلاق، أكمل أكثر من 40 مهمة هدف صاروخية بحرية، دعم علوم الصواريخ الاستقصائية لـ NASA وقدم 10 اختبارات فرط صوتي. طورت Kratos تحكمًا في اتجاه الدفع في 2012 وناقشت مؤخرًا عقدًا من 60 محركًا مع تسليمات خلال السنوات الثلاث القادمة.
Kratos (NASDAQ: KTOS) 自其商业开发的 Oriole 固体火箭发动机首次飞行以来已达 25 年，该发动机于 2000 年在 NASA Wallops 首次发射。Oriole 的 80 次任务全部成功，成功率为 100%，产量已超过 100 台。Oriole 作为九种发射配置中的二级/三级，完成了 40 多次海军弹道导弹靶标任务，支持 NASA 探空火箭科学，并完成了 10 次高超音速测试。Kratos 于 2012 年开发了推力矢量控制，最近还谈成了一份 60 台发动机、未来三年交付的合同。
- Oriole achieved a 100% success rate across 80 missions
- Production exceeded 100 Oriole motors
- Secured a 60-motor contract with deliveries over three years
- Enabled 10 hypersonic tests and supported >140 suborbital missions
- None.
Oriole is a Proven Hypersonic, Ballistic Missile Target and “Other” Mission SRM System
Kratos’ Rocket Systems and Hypersonics Business, Including Oriole, expected to be Future Year Multi-Billion Dollar Franchise Area for Kratos
Kratos Oriole SRM in upper stage.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/80e2410b-5788-4ce6-8e99-f7da904c59eb
SAN DIEGO, CA, Oct. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS), a technology company in defense, national security, and global markets, proudly commemorates 25 years since the first flight of its commercially developed Oriole solid rocket motor, celebrating Oriole’s stellar record of success supporting scientific and Department of Defense testing. Since its inception in 1999, the Oriole has achieved a flawless 100 percent success rate across 80 missions, cementing its legacy as a cornerstone of Kratos' innovation and excellence initiatives.
First launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in 2000, the Oriole rocket motor has proven its versatility and reliability time and time again. Designed with high ballistic and thermo-structural margins, the Oriole provides robust performance for a variety of multi-stage rocket configurations and has seamlessly served as both a second and third stage for nine different launch vehicle configurations on more than 60 separate flights. Manufactured to Kratos specifications by Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation at the Alleghany Ballistics Laboratory in Rocket Center, West Virginia, production of the Oriole rocket motor has now exceeded 100 units, with more currently in production.
In 2005, Oriole was selected as the principal stage for the Aegis Readiness Assessment Vehicle Type B (ARAV B) ballistic missile target by the Navy and has since successfully completed over 40 threat-representative ballistic missile target missions for tracking and engagement by U.S. Navy and allied vessels using Standard Missile 3 and Standard Missile 6 interceptors. Additionally, during that time, the Oriole has been a key component of NASA's venerable sounding rocket program, driving forward a wide range of science research initiatives.
Oriole's journey of success is further highlighted by Kratos' successful development of a complementary Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system in 2012. The system, which allows the Oriole to meet more exacting trajectory requirements, has now completed four highly successful missions, delivering Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) targets to very precise locations with pinpoint accuracy. Another of Oriole’s key attributes is its compatibility across a diverse set of existing launch range infrastructures, having successfully deployed to and performed launches from locations worldwide, including Kwajalein Atoll, Wake Island, Pacific Missile Range Facility (Kauai), Poker Flat Research Range, NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Hebrides Range in Scotland, Andoya Research Range in Norway, and Biscarrosse Range in France.
Kratos Oriole SRM launch.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7047fce3-3c67-4b99-b5ea-4774d59f77cc
The Oriole has perennially been a key element paving the way for Kratos' expanding role in hypersonic flight testing. When combined with tandem Terrier MK-70 kick stages, the Oriole offers an exceptionally reliable, high-speed boost delivery platform for hypersonic research. To date, the Kratos Oriole has successfully delivered 10 highly complex hypersonic tests, solidifying its position as the United States’ premier flight test rocket and laying the foundation for Kratos' other suborbital launch work, which has culminated in over 140 successful missions to date. When fitted with Kratos’ proven Erinyes hypersonic test bed flyer, the tandem MK-70 Oriole boost stack can propel hypersonic experiments to relevant in-flight test environments up to Mach 9 for more than four minutes.
Through its lofty achievements, Oriole provided Kratos with the inspiration for development of the new, larger Zeus rocket motors, which now represent the next frontier in rocket innovation and ultra high-performance flight testing. To meet the urgent demands for BMD targets, hypersonic test flights, and scientific research, Kratos is moving forward aggressively with production of Zeus and Oriole motors having recently negotiated a contract for 60 Oriole motors with deliveries expected over the next three years.
Eric Demarco, President and CEO of Kratos, said, “Kratos’ Oriole SRM is a gold standard in reliable, affordable, relevant national security related launch systems for the United States and its allies. Kratos rapidly delivers actual, relevant products to our customers, not pictures, renditions, never ending tests, and PowerPoints, with Oriole’s 25 years of mission success representative of the technology leading systems Kratos delivers. Kratos’ rocket and hypersonic system team is a true national treasure, and I expect that Kratos’ rocket systems and hypersonics business will be a future-year multi-billion-dollar franchise for Kratos.”
For more information, visit www.KratosDefense.com.
About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS) is a technology, products, system and software company addressing the defense, national security, and commercial markets. Kratos makes true internally funded research, development, capital and other investments, to rapidly develop, produce and field solutions that address our customers’ mission critical needs and requirements. At Kratos, affordability is a technology, and we seek to utilize proven, leading-edge approaches and technology, not unproven bleeding edge approaches or technology, with Kratos’ approach designed to reduce cost, schedule and risk, enabling us to be first to market with cost effective solutions. We believe that Kratos is known as an innovative disruptive change agent in the industry, a company that is an expert in designing products and systems up front for successful rapid, large quantity, low-cost future manufacturing which is a value-add competitive differentiator for our large traditional prime system integrator partners and also to our government and commercial customers. Kratos intends to pursue program and contract opportunities as the prime or lead contractor when we believe that our probability of win (PWin) is high and any investment required by Kratos is within our capital resource comfort level. We intend to partner and team with a large, traditional system integrator when our assessment of PWin is greater or required investment is beyond Kratos’ comfort level. Kratos’ primary business areas include virtualized ground systems for satellites and space vehicles including software for command & control (C2) and telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C), jet powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles and rocket systems, propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, space craft and launch systems, C5ISR and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, satellite, counter UAS, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual & augmented reality training systems for the warfighter. For more information, visit www.KratosDefense.com.
Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Kratos and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Kratos undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although Kratos believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Kratos in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Kratos for the year ended December 29, 2024, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the SEC by Kratos.
Press Contact:
Claire Cantrell
claire.cantrell@kratosdefense.com
Investor Information:
877-934-4687
investor@kratosdefense.com
FAQ
What milestone did Kratos announce for KTOS on October 9, 2025?
How many successful Oriole missions has KTOS recorded?
What is the size and timing of the recent Oriole contract for KTOS?
How has Oriole supported hypersonic testing for KTOS?
Where are Oriole motors manufactured and how many units exist for KTOS operations?
