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

[Kyle]

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

This thread will be of updates of the upcoming ORB-D Cygnus Demo and will also include updates for the maiden flight of the Antares vehicle, which are separate launches and missions that are absolutely critical to resupply the International Space Station.

Antares Maiden Flight (A-ONE) patch.

SOURCE OF ARTICLE: Orbital’s Cygnus debut mission to the ISS outlined

While the mission may be similar, the test schedule is slightly accelerated, with Orbital first tasked with a debut flight of its new launch vehicle, the Antares – formerly known as Taurus II, to be then followed by a one-off full COTS level demonstration mission, not unlike SpaceX’s C2+ mission, tasking Cygnus with a single flight to prove its ability, prior to starting CRS operations proper.

Antares’ debut has been delayed, mainly by ongoing work at the Wallops launch site, although it is hoped Orbital will be able to test launch the new vehicle and then follow it up with Cygnus’ mission to the ISS by the end of this year.

The Antares maiden flight is scheduled for August 9th, 2012.
The ORB-D Demo mission is scheduled for October-November, 2012.

This thread is for updates only, keep all political discussion in the NASA's Future: The News and Updates Thread

 

[orb]

This thread is for updates only, keep all political discussion in the NASA's Future: The News and Updates Thread

And that thread isn't for political discussion either, only for news and updates about NASA's future, and direct comments. Please keep all political discussion in "NASA's Future: The War Continues - The political and off-topic discussion" in The Basement.

 

[Kyle]

Thanks for the correction as I wasn't aware they where two different threads.

 

[Kyle]

ORB-D now scheduled for November 20th, 2012.

Antares F1 still scheduled or August 9th, 2012.

 

[orb]

Parabolic Arc: Antares Test Flight Slips About a Month

 

[Kyle]

High likelihood that ORB-D will be moving to December.

I doubt that Cygnus will fly in 2012.

 

[orb]

Parabolic Arc: First Antares Flight Slips to December

 

[Kyle]

That would put ORB-D into 2013.

I doubt either mission will fly this year.

 

[jrriss]

From Orbital`s twitter.


@spacecom That Space News report is incorrect. Test flight about a month following launch complex certification, which is close.


https://twitter.com/orbitalsciences

 

[orb]

@spacecom That Space News report is incorrect.

Space News: Nash Replaces Reed after 17-year Stint as VCSFA Chief:

UPDATE, 7/9/12: Corrected the dates for the Antares hold down test, maiden flight, and first Antares/Cygnus flight. Orbital Sciences Corp. says all of these milestones are scheduled to be completed before the end of 2012.

{...}

Meanwhile, the first Antares hold-down test at Pad 0-A is now scheduled for August. As part of its fight demonstration agreement with NASA, Orbital has to complete that test before it can launch Antares on its maiden flight, now scheduled for September. In the September flight, Antares will fly without its Cygnus cargo module. It would not be until December, when Antares flies for the second time, that Orbital’s European-built Cygnus freighter would fly to orbit and berth with the space station.

{...}

Orbital spokesman Barron Beneski said the liquid oxygen shock tests are slated for July, and that a hold-down test could be completed as soon as a month later.

{...}

Space News: Virginia Spaceport Poised To Turn Pad Over to Orbital This Month:

{...}

Orbital is more than a year and a half behind schedule in flying its first cargo resupply mission for NASA and has blamed the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority for pad construction and certification delays at MARS.

{...}

 

[orb]

Space News: Orbital’s Antares Rocket in for Further Delays:

PARIS — Satellite and rocket builder Orbital Sciences Corp. on July 19 said its Antares rocket had encountered six or seven weeks of developmental delays and will not conduct its inaugural demonstration flight until late September or early October, with a second launch — this time carrying the Cygnus cargo vehicle to the international space station — likely in mid-December.

{...}

 

[Kyle]

As of current schedule, Antares's maiden flight is penciled in for mid-September.

 

[orb]

The current schedule:

Parabolic Arc: First Antares Test Flight Set for October:

The latest update from Orbital Sciences Corporation shows the first Antares test flight slipping from September to October.

Updated COTS and CRS Schedules

July 2012​

Orbital updated its COTS and CRS operational schedules, with plans to achieve four major operational milestones within the next year. They are as listed below:

• Late August/Early September 2012 – Antares First-Stage Static Fire Test at Wallops
  
  
• October 2012 – Antares Test Flight for COTS
  
  
• December 2012 – COTS Demonstration Mission to ISS*
  
  
• First quarter 2013 – CRS Mission #1 to ISS*

*Dates are subject to coordination with NASA’s ISS cargo delivery schedule.

{...}

 

[orb]

Parabolic Arc: Orbital Progressing Toward First Antares, Cygnus Flights

 

[orb]

Space News: Rollout of Orbital’s Antares First Stage on Tap for Today:

WASHINGTON — Orbital Sciences Corp. expects to roll out the first stage of its Antares rocket Thursday (Sept. 27) to a launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility where, if all goes according to plan, the company will conduct a long-awaited hold-down test sometime in the next several weeks.

Orbital expected to start the rollout around 8:00 a.m. Thursday, but the operation was delayed at least several hours by a power problem with one of the transporters used to haul Antares from its hangar to the launch pad.

“We experienced a problem with the transporters,” Mike Whalen, Orbital’s field site manager, wrote just before 11 a.m. in an internal Orbital email obtained by Space News. “They checked out ok last night and early this morning, but one died when we attempted to roll.

“Team is trouble shooting and we know for sure that we have a power problem. We are getting new batteries delivered Pocomoke now. After installing them we will perform transporter checkout. If no fault code exist, we will probably roll out around 12:30 if all goes well,” Whalen wrote.

Orbital spokesman Barron Beneski, speaking from the company’s headquarters in Dulles, Va., confirmed that rollout is planned for today.

“We were authorized to begin our on-pad operations,” Beneski said. “Once the rocket is hooked up, it will be four to six weeks before we do the hot-fire test.”

If successful, the hold-down test of the first stage now on its way to Pad 0-A at Wallops will clear the way for the first flight of the full Antares launch vehicle by the end of this year, Beneski said.

{...}

 

[Kyle]

Antares Rollout rescheduled for Saturday AM due to battery issues.

Launch of Antares is TBD November.
Launch of COTS Demo for Cygnus is December 12th (probably January 2013)

---------- Post added at 11:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:10 AM ----------

Update, the Antares rollout is now scheduled for Monday due to poor weather over the weekend predicted.

 

[Kyle]

Antares is rollin'!

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Reminds me..... where is the Antares (no, not the Italian spacecraft ) and Cygnus add-ons? Those guys at Orbital deserves equal representation at Orbiter..... :thumbup:

 

[orb]

Space News: Orbital Rolls Antares to Pad To Prep for Hold-down Test

Florida Today: Orbital Sciences rolls out Antares rocket stage at Va. launch pad

SPACE.com: New Private Rocket Arrives at Virginia Launch Pad for Tests

Parabolic Arc: Antares Rolled Out to the Pad on Wallops Island

 

[Kyle]

Reminds me..... where is the Antares (no, not the Italian spacecraft ) and Cygnus add-ons? Those guys at Orbital deserves equal representation at Orbiter..... :thumbup:

The 3DS meshes are available here if anyone wants to finish them, thanks to Capt_hensley.
http://orbiter-forum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9880&d=1338305398

---------- Post added at 09:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:08 PM ----------

NSF.com
Orbital’s Antares closing in on debut launch following pad arrival