United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture of The Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin Corporation, contacted Continental to provide replacement tires for its KAMAG Transporttechnik self-propelled Transporter Platform. Continental was chosen to supply the replacement tires based on the manufacturer's specifications, said Steven Mansker, Subcontract Administrator for the ULA's Atlas V Launch Operations Program at Vandenberg.

The KAMAG transporter, which is 63.5 feet long, is used to move Atlas flight hardware from its loading facility to the launch pad at ULA's Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The capacity of the KAMAG transporter is 450,000 lbs. and it travels at eight miles per hour.

Continental provided a set of 82 15-inch HTR (Heavy Trailer Regional) tube-type tires for the KAMAG transporter and they were installed in mid-April, said Clif Armstrong, Continental's director of marketing for Commercial Vehicle Tires - The Americas.

Continental's HTR features a multiple-rib tread design that provides excellent wet traction and lateral stability. The tire's high ply ratings provide durability for long casing life, and see-through grooves aid in water evacuation, Armstrong said.

"Continental is proud to provide this set of tires to the ULA for the KAMAG transporter platform," said Armstrong. "It is incredible to know that our tires will assist in launching U.S. commercial and military satellites into space that help improve and protect life here on Earth."

The Atlas and Delta expendable launch vehicles have carried nearly 1,300 combined payloads to space ranging from weather, telecommunications and national security satellites, to deep space and interplanetary exploration missions.

Related Links
- Launch Pad at Space-Travel.com

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Reston VA (SPX) Mar 13, 2009
International Launch Services has announced a contract for the launch of the ViaSat-1 satellite on an ILS Proton. The satellite is under construction by Space Systems Loral and is scheduled to launch in the first half of 2011 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.