Orbital ATK [OA] and United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully launched Orbital ATK’s Cargo Resupply Services (CRS) mission Sunday after poor weather at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., scrubbed three launch attempts over the three previous days.
Orbital ATK’s Cygnus capsule is due to rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) Wednesday at roughly 6:10 a.m. EST, according to a company statement. Cygnus will remain attached to ISS for approximately 50 days before departing with approximately 5,050 pounds of disposable cargo for a safe, destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean. NASA’s CRS program delivers food, supplies and science experiments to ISS.
Orbital ATK spokesman Barry Beneski said Monday the spacecraft is performing “beautifully,” solar arrays deployed right on schedule and that several planned thruster burns have been completed without issue. After its 21-minute ascent, Cygnus was successfully deployed into its intended orbit approximately 144 miles above the earth, inclined at 51.6 degrees to the equator.
Launch took place Sunday at 4:45 p.m. EST on a ULA Atlas V rocket. ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye said Monday there were no anomalies reported with the launch, which was originally scheduled for Dec. 3. Launch attempts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday were canceled due to poor weather, including gusty winds.
Sunday’s launch was significant as it was Orbital ATK’s return to flight for CRS after its Antares launch vehicle failed upon liftoff October 2014 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island, Va. Sunday’s launch was Orbital ATK’s fourth CRS mission and featured the company’s extended pressurized cargo module, which was filled with approximately 7,700 pounds of cargo. Orbital ATK said the extended pressurized cargo module enables Cygnus to carry over 50 percent more cargo than the previous version.
Orbital ATK bought a pair of Atlas V missions following its Antares failure. Its next CRS mission, on an Atlas V, is slated for March. After that, Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket will launch at least two CRS missions in the second and fourth quarters of 2016. Under its current CRS contract with NASA, Orbital ATK will perform 10 total missions through early 2018. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is also performing CRS missions for NASA.
NASA is in source selection for its CRS predecessor, CRS-2, of which Orbital ATK, Space SpaceX, Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Sierra Nevada (SNC) are competing. Boeing [BA] was dismissed in November. NASA has delayed its CRS-2 contract award multiple times. Next estimated award date is no later than Jan. 30.
ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.