Launch News Orbital's Antares Maiden Flight & ORB-D "G. David Low" Cygnus Demo updates.

[Kyle]

Antares vertical!

 

[Kyle]

Video of the rollout:

 

[Kyle]

Launch date is now penned in for NET November 20th, but NLT December 12th.

 

[orb]

Space News: Orbital’s Cygnus Debut Pushed to March or April:

PARIS — Orbital Sciences Corp. on Oct. 18 said its new Antares rocket will not launch its Cygnus cargo freighter on a demonstration flight to the international space station until around March or April, assuming that two preceding rocket tests occur without a hitch.

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Orbital Chief Executive David W. Thompson said propellant-loading tests of the Antares rocket’s first stage on the Wallops Island launch pad will start the week of Oct. 21. Assuming no hiccups in this procedure, the first stage will be test-fired for 30 seconds on the pad in early November.

A successful engine-firing test will lead to the preparation of a full Antares rocket for a test flight, without the Cygnus cargo vehicle, in December.

Thompson said the demonstration flight to the international space station, this time with Cygnus, would then occur late in the first quarter of 2013 or early in the second quarter, depending on the station’s traffic schedule and on Antares’ status.

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Parabolic Arc: Orbital’s Commercial Cargo Schedule Slips Several Months

Spaceflight Now: Orbital making progress in Antares launch preparations

 

[Kyle]

Saw that coming miles away. No shock there, but if you will all remember, COTS-2/3 delayed for over a year before it actually flew. Testing will always result in delays, as systems need to be checked, etc. As long as the Antares maiden flight remains this year, I won't be too worried about Cygnus not making it to the ISS within the next year.

 

[K_Jameson]

Orbital has stolen the name:

[ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=4682"]http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=4682[/ame]

:hmm:

 

[orb]

 

[Pipcard]

Orbital has stolen the name:

http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=4682

:hmm:

The Antares launcher won't be as cool as the Antares manned spacecraft.

 

[Kyle]

No surprises here.

Antares rocket tests halted by Hurricane Sandy

The Antares rocket's first stage was moved Oct. 1 to the launch pad at Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore for several weeks of testing, fueling exercises and an engine hotfire ahead of the new launcher's first liftoff.

According to Barron Beneski, an Orbital spokesperson, workers at the coastal launch site are sealing doors on the Antares horizontal integration facility and closing access doors, disconnecting propellant lines, and safing systems on the rocket's first stage on launch pad 0A at Wallops.

The Antares first stage, designed by Yuzhnoye and built by Yuzhmash in Ukraine, will remain on the launch pad, Beneski said Friday.

Parts for two more Antares rockets are housed inside Orbital's hangar about one mile from the pad.

As of 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), Hurricane Sandy was centered about 30 miles east-northeast of Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. The 2 p.m. EDT advisory from the National Hurricane Center said the storm had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and was moving north at 7 mph.

The forecast calls for Hurricane Sandy to make landfall between Virginia and New York on Monday or Tuesday.

The Antares processing infrastructure weathered Hurricane Irene in 2011 with little effect.

"We've had practice at this, but there is a new wrinkle in that we have an Antares first stage on the pad now," Beneski said.

Engineers planned to load propellant into the Antares first stage as soon as this week, but Hurricane Sandy will delay the rocket's test schedule by at least several days.

After the hurricane passes, workers will resume Antares testing ahead of a 30-second firing of the first stage's two AJ26 engines.

Several propellant loading, or cold flow, tests are planned before the hotfire to demonstrate the launch pad's fueling systems and rehearse countdown procedures.

Once the first stage tests are completed, Orbital will swap the vehicle for a full-up Antares rocket for a demonstration flight.

Orbital Sciences aims to conduct the first test launch of the Antares rocket before the end of 2012. The company is developing the two-stage vehicle and a robotic cargo freighter to deliver supplies to the International Space Station under a $1.9 billion contract with NASA.

 

[orb]

Spaceflight Now: Antares, Wallops escape major damage from Sandy

 

[orb]

Parabolic Arc: First Antares Launch Delayed into 2013:

Space News reports that the first Antares launch will be delayed in 2013. The details of why are behind a pay wall, but Clark Lindsey says that the delay is linked to the need to clean up Wallops Island after Hurricane Sandy.

Between now and the first launch, Orbital Sciences Corporation says it plans “a series of three ‘wet dress rehearsals’ (fueling and defueling the rocket to test the launch complex’s systems) and a ‘hot fire’ test during which the rocket’s dual main engines will run at full thrust for about 30 seconds while the first stage is held down on the pad.”

The inaugural flight is scheduled to test out the engine. That mission will be followed by a test flight of the new Cygnus freigher, which is designed to deliver supplies and equipment to the International Space Station under NASA’s commercial cargo effort.

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[orb]

Orbital - Cargo Resupply Services: Antares Cold Flow Testing Begins and Antares A-ONE Gets All Dressed Up:

The Antares team began cold flow testing with a first stage on the launch pad. The initial cold-flow tests validated the loading and unloading of liquid oxygen to the rocket. The top photo below is a still image captured by the pad video system.

Meanwhile, in the Horizontal Integration facility, the Antares to be employed for the test launch (mission A-ONE) has been dressed up with its logos (middle photo). The bottom image shows the first Antares payload fairing in the foreground with the cores for the A-ONE mission (left) and COTS demo mission (center) behind it.

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[Thunder Chicken]

Does anyone know what orbit they intend to achieve? I am just curious to know if there is any chance of seeing this from the south coast of Cape Cod Massachusetts.

 

[orb]

Parabolic Arc: Orbital Eyes Spring ISS Demo Flight for Cygnus:

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“We would certainly expect, if we go in April with the demo mission, to carry out at least one CRS mission in 2013, but that is really driven by NASA’s needs and paced by NASA,” Orbital spokesman Barron Beneski says. “Orbital could certainly do two.”

…The workload seemed likely to push a COTS required orbital test flight of the Antares with a Cygnus mass simulator into February 2013, Beneski said. The test flight does not involve a space station rendezvous.​

{...}

 

[Kyle]

Date is NET February for the Antares maiden flight at the moment.

Cygnus COTS Demo is targeted for April 5th.

 

[Kyle]

NASASpaceFlight: Flight of the Antares – Orbital closing in on long-awaited debut

 

[Kyle]

Antares hot fire scheduled for next Tuesday.

 

[orb]

The test has been rescheduled to Wednesday, between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. EST (23:00 - 01:00 UTC).

 

[Kyle]

Vehicle aborted test firing at T-1.5 seconds.

Turnaround NET next week.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

What went wrong?