NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Success

CRS Orb-1

Launch Time
Thu Jan 09, 2014 18:07 UTC

First Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) mission for Cygnus, and first Antares launch using the Castor 30B upper stage. First flight of Antares 120.

Rocket

Antares 120
Image Credit: NASA
Northrop
Status: Retired
Price: $80.0 million
Liftoff Thrust: 3,265 kN
Payload to LEO: 4,600 kg
Payload to GTO: 1,500 kg
Stages: 2
Strap-ons: 0
Rocket Height: 40.5 m
Fairing Diameter: 3.94 m
Fairing Height: 9.87 m

Mission Details

Cygnus Orb-1

Cygnus Orb-1 is a cargo resupply mission of the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA.

Northrop Grumman (formerly Orbital ATK) and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station. The Cygnus cargo ship consists of two parts, a service module built in the USA based on the GEOStar platform, and a pressurized module, manufactured in France and Italy by Thales Alenia. The cargo is sent into orbit by a launcher specially developed for this purpose.

Antares has a first stage based on Energiya lateral blocks, made in Ukraine by Yuzhnoye. It was initially powered by two NK-33s, built in the 1960s for the Soviet N1 lunar launcher, before being replaced by RD-181s, derived from the RD-170s installed on Energiya and Zenit. The second stage, a Castor-30, is made in the USA, by Northrop Grumman.

CRS Orb-1 was captured by RMS on 12/01/2014 at 11:08 and berthed to the Nadir port of the Harmony module of the International Space Station on 12/01/2014 at 13:05 UTC. Its stay on the ISS was 36 days. It was unberthed on 18/02/2014 at 10:25 UTC and released by RMS on 18/02/2014 at 11:41 UTC. It deorbited on 19/02/2014 at 18:20 UTC.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 1,260.0 kg
Low Earth Orbit

Location

LP-0A, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

Stats

2014

3rd orbital launch attempt

Antares

3rd mission
1st mission of 2014
3rd successful mission