{"id":39764,"date":"2013-09-13T18:12:13","date_gmt":"2013-09-13T10:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/antares-rolled-out-ahead-of-orb-d-mission-24-hour-delay\/"},"modified":"2013-09-13T18:12:13","modified_gmt":"2013-09-13T10:12:13","slug":"antares-rolled-out-ahead-of-orb-d-mission-24-hour-delay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/antares-rolled-out-ahead-of-orb-d-mission-24-hour-delay\/","title":{"rendered":"Antares rolled out ahead of ORB-D mission \u2013 24 hour delay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Orbital\u2019s Antares launch vehicle is deep into preparations for its second trip into space \u2013 delayed 24 hours to Wednesday \u2013 this time hosting the debut mission for the Cygnus resupply ship. Known as ORB-D, Cygnus will make its long-awaited flight to the International Space Station (ISS), with the aim of validating multiple demonstration milestones ahead of its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) missions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Antares Awaits:<\/p>\n

Starting life under the name Taurus II, the Antares is the first cryogenically powered rocket to be produced by Orbital Sciences. It\u2019s also the largest rocket they have ever produced.<\/p>\n

The first stage of the Antares was developed jointly between Orbital Sciences Corporation and KB Yuzhnoye and PO Yuzhmash of Ukraine, with the propulsion provided by two AJ26-62 engines burning RP-1 propellant in liquid oxygen, which generate 3.3 meganewtons (740,000 pounds) of thrust.<\/p>\n

\"Z38-350x225\"The AJ26 engines powering the first stage began life as NK-33s, constructed in the 1960s to power the rockets which would have taken Soviet cosmonauts to the Moon via the massive N1 rocket. The engines were rebuilt by Aerojet to optimize their performance for the Antares.<\/p>\n

The Upper Stage Castor 30A is tasked with providing the final push to orbit, although Orbital will move to an upgraded version called the Castor 30B for the first two Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) missions \u2013 CRS-1 (Orb-1) and CRS-2 (Orb-2).<\/p>\n

The final transition for the rocket will come via the use of the CASTOR 30XL, which will power the last six CRS flights scheduled for the Antares \u2013 allowing for the transition towards the launch of extra cargo on a larger Cygnus Spacecraft.<\/p>\n

Rocket launch schedules<\/path>NASA educational resources<\/path>Company News<\/path>\n

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n

Click here for more Orbital Articles: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/tag\/orbital\/<\/p>\n

ORB-D is the final leg of their COTS milestone requirements and will mirror SpaceX\u2019s COTS 2+ mission by way of completing validation tasks ahead of beginning ISS runs under the NASA CRS contract.<\/p>\n

\"Z31\"Orbital successfully ticked the boxes for the A-ONE mission objectives, with a flawless launch of Antares on its debut mission into space.<\/p>\n

With the A-ONE mission achieving all of its validation tasks \u2013 successfully lofting a Cygnus Mass Simulator into space \u2013 Orbital then conducted a post-flight performance review, in order to confirm everything proceeded as plan during Antares\u2019 launch out of Wallops.<\/p>\n

The flight data was used to validate the launch vehicle\u2019s propulsion, navigation and other major subsystems, as well as the supporting ground systems. The results proved to be excellent.<\/p>\n

Preparations had already begun for the ORB-D mission, this time debuting the flight of a real Cygnus spacecraft.<\/p>\n

\"Z6\"One of the key milestones for the launch was the rollout of the integrated Antares and Cygnus stack, with the rocket first emerging from its Horizontal Integration Facility in the early hours of Friday morning.<\/p>\n

The rocket was then transported about one mile to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) launch complex, known as Pad 0A, aboard the Transporter\/Erector\/Launcher (TEL), a specialized vehicle that also raised the rocket to a vertical position on the launch pad and serves as a support interface between the rocket and the launch complex\u2019s systems.<\/p>\n

By about 1:00 pm local, Antares was in a fully vertical position on the launch pad.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s roll-out of the fully integrated Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft, along with this weekend\u2019s on-pad testing and readiness review, are the final steps leading up to next week\u2019s launch of our COTS demonstration mission,\u201d noted David W. Thompson, Orbital\u2019s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,<\/p>\n

See Also<\/h4>\n