Launch Failure
Liftoff Time (GMT)
22:22:00
Tuesday October 28, 2014
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LOX turbopump failure at T+6 seconds. The rocket fell back onto the pad and exploded. First Antares launch to use Castor 30XL upper stage. Last flight of Antares 130, and last flight of NK-33 engines on Antares.
Cygnus Orb-3 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.
Low Earth Orbit
1 Payload
2,215 kilograms
Agency
NorthropPrice
$80.00 million
Rocket
Diameter: 3.9m
Height: 40.5m
Payload to Orbit
LEO: 5,100 kg
Liftoff Thrust
3,265 Kilonewtons
Fairing
Diameter: 3.94m
Height: 9.87m
Stages
2
5th
Mission
3rd
Mission of 2014
68th
Orbital launch attempt