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<\/p>\nAs Orbital ATK\u2019s OA-9E Cygnus mission continues its to-date flawless mission at the ISS, the company is looking ahead toward the commencement of the CRS2 contract flights of Cygnus beginning in 2019 as well as the first flights of an enhanced version of its Antares rocket. Orbital ATK also plans to offer Antares on the commercial market and as part of NASA\u2019s Launch Services II program.<\/p>\n
CRS2 contract flights of Cygnus:<\/b><\/p>\n
With just two flights \u2013 not including the in-progress OA-9E mission \u2013 left as part of NASA\u2019s extended CRS1 (Commercial Resupply Services 1) contract with Orbital ATK for Cygnus flights to the International Space Station, Orbital ATK is deep into planning for the first two CRS2 contract missions, OA-12 and -13, which are scheduled to launch in late-2019 and the first part of 2020, respectively. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor CRS2, we\u2019ll get a minimum of six missions on that contract,\u201d said Frank DeMauro, Vice President & General Manager, Advanced Programs Division for Orbital ATK, in an exclusive interview with NASASpaceflight\u2019s Chris Gebhardt. \u201cObviously we hope it\u2019ll be more, but there\u2019s a minimum of six. So far we\u2019ve received authorization to proceed, which essentially starts the schedule clock for each of the missions, on two of the missions \u2014 OA-12 and OA-13. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they\u2019ve actually put us on contract and given us a task order for the third mission which is OA-14. We don\u2019t have authorization to proceed [on that mission] yet, so the schedule clock hasn\u2019t started. But they\u2019ve essentially given us that third order. And all of those are Antares based missions.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Antares on its launch pad in Virginia awaiting launch to the International Space Station. (Credit: Orbital ATK)<\/p>\n
As part of the CRS2 contract award to Orbital ATK, NASA reserved the right to determine which of three Cygnus variants the agency wanted for each mission, with some of those variants having to launch on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket for increased performance and cargo upmass to the Station.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the other three missions [that NASA hasn\u2019t turned on yet], NASA has not determined what they\u2019d like or when they\u2019d like them. Our assumption is that all of those will actually be Antares missions, but NASA could come back and say \u2018Well, actually, we\u2019d like one of those higher cargo missions,\u2019 and that would be on an Atlas V. <\/p>\n
\u201cOr they could come back and say \u2018You know, I\u2019d really like the unpressurized cargo mission,\u2019 and they could turn one of those [missions] on as part of the remaining three,\u201d noted Mr. DeMauro. The option also exists for NASA to extend the CRS2 contract with Orbital ATK, thereby ordering up more than the currently contracted six missions with the company.<\/p>\n
Space Shuttle models (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n \u201cSo those options are available to NASA,\u201d said Mr. DeMauro. \u201cAs far as what they\u2019ve indicated to us, they\u2019ve only essentially committed that the first three will be the Antares missions and then the second three are really up to them. So we\u2019ll see what they decide they need.\u201d<\/p>\n Antares in the HIF undergoing payload fairing mate. (Credit: Orbital ATK)<\/p>\n Part of the upgrade Orbital ATK is offering NASA as part of the CRS2 contract doesn\u2019t just relate to three variants of the Cygnus craft but also to the Antares rocket itself, specifically to how cargo is stowed in Cygnus prior to lift off. <\/p>\n \u201cFor CRS2, we\u2019re actually modifying the way and location where we\u2019re going to do the final cargo load,\u201d related Mr. DeMauro. \u201cRight now, we do the final cargo load in the HIF (Horizontal Integration Facility) prior to encapsulation about three or so days before launch. <\/p>\n \u201cBut starting on OA-11, which is actually the final flight of the CRS1 contract, the Antares team is making modifications to the top of the fairing so we can actually pop off part of the fairing to give the team access to the cargo module. So we can open the hatch, through that popped fairing top, load the late-load cargo, close up the hatch, and then re-install the top cone of the fairing. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd we\u2019ll do that out by the pad. So the time from when we actually load that late cargo, close the hatch, do the final checks, put the fairing top back on, and then roll the rest of the way to the pad will be a much shorter time frame. Our plan is to be able to load that cargo and launch within 24 hours,\u201d concluded Mr. DeMauro.<\/p>\n Antares upgrades for CRS2:<\/b><\/p>\n The Cygnus team isn\u2019t the only division within Orbital ATK looking ahead to the CRS2 contract flights to the International Space Station. The Flight Vehicle Division is also working through anticipated upgrades to the Antares rocket that will allow for greater cargo upmass and performance from the rocket as well.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/2018-05-20-174657.jpg\")
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