Resupply
This is the demonstration mission under NASA's Commercial Resupply Service agreement with Orbital Sciences. The unmanned Cygnus cargo vessel delivered approximately 700kg of supplies and science experiments to the International Space Station.
The International Space Station programme is tied together by a complex set of legal, political and financial agreements between the sixteen nations involved in the project, governing ownership of the various components, rights to crewing and utilization, and responsibilities for crew rotation and resupply of the International Space Station. It was conceived in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, during the Space Station Freedom project as it was originally called.
Nov 20, 1998 — ongoing
Orbital Attempt
#5,321
OSC Mission
#68
Pad Launch
#3
Location Launch
#55
Designator
2013-051
Sep 18, 2013, 2:58 PM
1 update
Antares known during early development as Taurus II, is an expendable launch system developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation (now part of Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems after Northrop Grumman acquired Orbital ATK) and the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau to launch the Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA's COTS and CRS programs. Able to launch payloads heavier than 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) into low-Earth orbit, Antares is the largest rocket operated by Orbital ATK. Antares launches from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport and made its inaugural flight on April 21, 2013.
Length
40.5 m
Diameter
3.9 m
Launch Mass
276 t
Thrust
3,265 kN
LEO Capacity
4,450 kg
Reusable
No
Maiden Flight
2013
Fastest Turnaround
4mo 29d
Total Launches
2
Successful
2
Failed
0
Consecutive Success
2
Maiden flight: Apr 21, 2013
LP-0A was first built for the failed Conestoga rocket program. The original launch tower was subsequently demolished in September 2008. A new pad facility was built from 2009 to 2011 for Orbital Sciences Taurus II, now renamed Antares.
Total Launches
19
Orbital Attempts
19
Fastest Turnaround
3mo 15d
Wallops Flight Facility is a rocket launch site on Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, United States, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and north-northeast of Norfolk. The facility is operated by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and primarily serves to support science and exploration missions for NASA and other federal agencies. WFF includes an extensively instrumented range to support launches of more than a dozen types of sounding rockets; small expendable suborbital and orbital rockets; high-altitude balloon flights carrying scientific instruments for atmospheric and astronomical research; and, using its Research Airport, flight tests of aeronautical research aircraft, including uncrewed aerial vehicles.
Timezone
America/New_York
Local Launch Time
Sep 18, 2013, 10:58 AM
Total Launches
86
Total Landings
0
Coordinates
37.9333, -75.4678