Continental has provided new tires for a highly specialized ground transporter vehicle used to support Atlas V rocket launches at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, contacted the company 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, says Steven Mansker, subcontract administrator for the Atlas V Launch Operations Program.
The KAMAG transporter, which is 63.5 feet long, is used to move flight equipment from its loading facility to the launch pad at ULA’s Space Launch Complex 3. The capacity of the KAMAG transporter is 450,000 lbs. and it travels at eight miles per hour.
Continental provided 82 of its 15-inch HTR (Heavy Trailer Regional) tube-type tires for the vehicle.
“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,” says Clif Armstrong, Continental’s director of marketing for commercial vehicle tires in the Americas.
The tire 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 explains.
The Atlas and Delta expendable launch vehicles have carried nearly 1,300 combined payloads into space, ranging from weather, telecommunications and national security satellites to deep space and interplanetary exploration missions.
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