Cygnus | Parabolic Arc

Tag: Cygnus

NASA IG: Agency Accepted Too Much Financial Risk in Orbital’s CRS Contract

Posted

on June 13, 2013, at 4:17 pm

NASA’s Office of Inspector General has issued a report saying the space agency has taken on too much financial risk in Orbital Sciences Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract by funding future missions before the company has demonstrated the capacity to deliver cargo to the International Space Station.

Although we do not second guess NASA’s decision to concurrently fund up to three rocket systems given the critical need for additional ISS resupply capabilities, in the case of Orbital, NASA will fully or partially fund six rocket systems under the CRS contract before Orbital has fully demonstrated its spaceflight system.

Continue reading ‘NASA IG: Agency Accepted Too Much Financial Risk in Orbital’s CRS Contract’

Orbital Says Antares Performance Right on the Money, ISS Flight Set for Late Summer

Posted

Doug Messier

on May 6, 2013, at 6:25 pm

in News

0 Comments

The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket is seen as it launches from Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, Sunday, April 21, 2013. The test launch marked the first flight of Antares and the first rocket launch from Pad-0A. The Antares rocket delivered the equivalent mass of a spacecraft, a so-called mass simulated payload, into Earth’s orbit. Photo (Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

DULLES, Virg. (Orbital PR) – In the two weeks following the successful debut fight of the Antares rocket on April 21, the program’s technical team gathered and analyzed large volumes of data collected during the A-ONE mission’s countdown, ignition and lift-off, and flight sequence. This data is used to validate that the launch vehicle’s propulsion, navigation and other major subsystems, as well as the supporting ground systems, all performed as designed.

The Antares team’s conclusion was definitive: the rocket’s first- and second-stage performance was right on the mark; the stage and fairing separation events were performed exactly as planned; and the data gathered from the heavily instrumented mass simulator payload confirmed Orbital’s engineering models that predicted a benign launch environment for Cygnus and other future satellite payloads in terms of the thermal, acoustic, vibration, acceleration and other measurements captured during the flight.

Continue reading ‘Orbital Says Antares Performance Right on the Money, ISS Flight Set for Late Summer’

Cygnus Fueled at Wallops Flight Facility

Posted

Doug Messier

on April 23, 2013, at 10:58 am

in News

0 Comments

Orbital Propulsion Team members in SCAPE suits. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation)

WALLOPS ISLAND, VA (Orbital PR) – While all eyes have been on Antares in the recent weeks, our Cygnus spacecraft has achieved many significant firsts as it prepares for its maiden voyage to the International Space Station. After initial cargo installation at Wallops Flight Facility building H-100 and the first-time mating of the Cygnus Service and Cargo Modules, Cygnus completed its next milestone by completing its Launch-Site Integrated Systems Test and its transfer from the Wallops Main Base to the Wallops Fueling Facility, on Wallops Island, just north of the Antares launch site.

Continue reading ‘Cygnus Fueled at Wallops Flight Facility’

ATK’s CASTOR 30 Motor Supports Successful Antares Test Flight

Posted

Doug Messier

on April 21, 2013, at 5:54 pm

in News

0 Comments

Arlington, Va., April 21, 2013 (ATK PR) – ATK’s CASTOR® 30 upper stage solid rocket motor supported the successful flight of Orbital Sciences Corporation’s (NYSE:ORB) Antares rocket as it lifted off from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 5:00 p.m. EDT with the Cygnus mass simulator payload. This was the test flight of the new Antares launch vehicle.

Continue reading ‘ATK’s CASTOR 30 Motor Supports Successful Antares Test Flight’

Antares Launch Aborted

Posted

Doug Messier

on April 17, 2013, at 1:51 pm

in News

0 Comments

The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket is seen on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) Pad-0A at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Tuesday, April 16, 2013 in Virginia. NASA’s commercial space partner, Orbital Sciences Corporation, is scheduled to launch Antares on Wednesday, April 17, 2013. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The maiden Antares launch was aborted about 12 minutes before a scheduled 5 p.m. EDT launch because of a premature separation of an umbilical line on the second stage of Orbital Sciences’ new rocket.

Commentators on the live webcast indicated that there would likely be a 48-hour turnaround on the launch.

I will update this page as I learn more.

UPDATE: A mission update from Orbital:

Dulles, VA (17 April 2013) – Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB), one of the world’s leading space technology companies, today announced that a premature separation of a launch pad umbilical connection to the Antares upper stage used for data communications halted today’s countdown of the Antares test launch at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. Engineers are currently analyzing what occurred to determine what measures will be taken to resolve the issue

During a launch countdown, safeguards are put in place to periodically verify that all systems are functioning as planned. With twelve minutes left in the count, the launch team identified the anomaly and called a scrub of today’s test launch attempt.

The next launch attempt is tentatively set for no earlier than Friday, April 19, pending final resolution of the issue and acceptable weather conditions.

“We are still examining all of the data, but it appears that the issue is fairly straightforward,” said Mr. Frank Culbertson, Orbital’s Executive Vice President and Mission Director for the Antares Test Flight. “With this being the first launch of the new system from a new launch facility we have taken prudent steps to ensure a safe and successful outcome. Today, our scrub procedures were exercised and worked as planned. We are looking forward to a successful launch on Friday.”

A Closer Look at Orbital’s Antares Launch Vehicle and Cygnus Freighter

Posted

Doug Messier

on April 17, 2013, at 9:55 am

in News

0 Comments

Antares on the launch pad on Wallops Island. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation)

By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor

With the first launch of Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket set for this evening, I thought this would be a good opportunity to take a closer look about both the launch vehicle and the Cygnus freighter that will carry cargo to the International Space Station later this year.

Continue reading ‘A Closer Look at Orbital’s Antares Launch Vehicle and Cygnus Freighter’

Antares Cleared for Launch on Wednesday Evening

Posted

Doug Messier

on April 16, 2013, at 6:50 pm

in News

0 Comments

The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket is seen on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) Pad-0A at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket has been cleared for its maiden flight on Wednesday evening. The launch window opens at 5 p.m. EDT/2 p.m. PDT. NASA Television will begin at 4 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. PDT.

The flight from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island in Virginia will test the company’s new rocket and also launch a mass simulator that will approximate Orbital’s Cygnus freighter, which is designed to carry cargo to the International Space Station later this year.

Orbital Sciences will be providing updates on Twitter @orbitalsciences and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OrbitalSciencesCorp. The company will post photos on its Flickr page www.flickr.com/photos/orbitalsciences/.

Antares Rollout Scheduled as Cygnus Integration Advances at Wallops

Posted

Doug Messier

on April 4, 2013, at 9:01 am

in News

0 Comments

Orbital Sciences Corporation will roll out its Antares launch vehicle at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Saturday in advance of its maiden launch scheduled for between April 17 and 19. Meanwhile, technicians have successfully mated the first Cygnus pressurized cargo vehicle with its service module for launch on a subsequent flight.

Continue reading ‘Antares Rollout Scheduled as Cygnus Integration Advances at Wallops’

Orbital Processes Cygnus for First ISS Flight

Posted

Doug Messier

on March 27, 2013, at 4:10 pm

in News

0 Comments

Technicians load cargo into the first ISS-bound Cygnus freighter. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation)

Space Station Cargo Loaded in to Cargo Module at Wallops
Orbital Sciences Update
March 2013

Orbital’s Cygnus Cargo team recently loaded cargo into the COTS Demonstration Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) in advance of the COTS Demonstration Flight. The cargo from NASA arrived at Wallops Flight Facility building H-100 by truck from Houston Texas on March 19th and was accepted by the Cygnus team that evening. Continue reading ‘Orbital Processes Cygnus for First ISS Flight’