Antares A-ONE [SEP] time of spacecraft launch
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Spaceflight Industries


system and other spacecraft subsystems to operate as both a hosted payload platform and an in-space maneuvering stage to reposition small and secondary spacecraft. SHERPA enables more access to space for small spacecraft and hosted payloads, and would be able to transport rideshare payloads to the Moon and Mars. Spaceflight launched its first satellites, manifested by NASA Ames Research Center and Planet Labs, on board the Antares A-ONE and Bion-M No.1 missions in April 2013, respectively on the Antares 110 and Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicles. , Spaceflight had
4684543
Antares A-ONE


Antares A-ONE was the maiden flight of Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket with a boilerplate payload, the Cygnus Mass Simulator, which was launched 21 April 2013. It was launched from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, Virginia, USA. The boilerplate payload simulates the mass of the Cygnus cargo spacecraft. This dummy payload was sent into an orbit of "approximately 150 by 160 miles" (240 km x 260 km) with an inclination of 51.6 degrees. Four Spaceflight Inc.
12452474
Antares (rocket)


stage, and the third the type of third stage. A plus sign added as suffix (fourth position) signifies performance upgrades to the Antares 230 variant. Originally scheduled for 2012, the first Antares launch, designated "A-ONE" was conducted on April 21, 2013, carrying the Cygnus Mass Simulator (a boilerplate Cygnus spacecraft) and four CubeSats contracted by Spaceflight Incorporated: Dove 1 for Cosmogia Incorporated (now Planet Labs) and three PhoneSat satellites – Alexander, Graham and Bell for NASA. Prior to the launch
13122559
Cygnus CRS Orb-3


Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia, with rendezvous and berthing with the ISS early in the morning on 2 November. This was the first night-time launch for both the Antares launcher and Cygnus spacecraft. The launch was scrubbed due to safety concerns of a sailboat entering the exclusion zone less than ten minutes before launch. A 24-hour delay was put in place, with the next launch opportunity scheduled for 22:22:38 UTC on 28 October 2014. The Antares rocket carrying the Orb-3 Cygnus launched as scheduled from Launch Pad 0A on
1546896
Antares (rocket)


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 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
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Antares (rocket)


21, 2013. NASA awarded Orbital a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Space Act Agreement (SAA) in 2008 to demonstrate delivery of cargo to the International Space Station. For these COTS missions Orbital intends to use Antares to launch its Cygnus spacecraft. In addition, Antares will compete for small-to-medium missions. Originally designated the Taurus II, Orbital Sciences renamed the vehicle Antares, after the star of the same name, on December 12, 2011. The first four Antares launch attempts were successful. During
13122543
Space launch market competition


to geostationary orbit (GEO), one was for a low-Earth orbit (LEO) launch. Arianespace and SpaceX each signed nine contracts for geostationary launches, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was awarded one. United Launch Alliance signed one commercial contract to launch an Orbital Sciences Corporation Cygnus spacecraft to the LEO-orbiting International Space Station following the destruction over the pad of an Orbital Antares vehicle in October 2014. This was the first year in some time that no commercial launches were booked on the Russian (Proton-M) and
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2014 in spaceflight


In 2014, the maiden flight of the Angara A5, Antares 120 and Antares 130 took place. An Ariane 5 ES launched the "Georges Lemaître" Automated Transfer Vehicle, the last one of the series, which also marked 60 successfully completed Ariane 5 launches in a row. On 22 August 2014, Arianespace launched the first two Full Operational Capability Galileo satellites for the European satellite navigation system. A number of significant events in planetary exploration occurred in 2014, including the entry of the Rosetta spacecraft into orbit around the comet 67P
5306624
EcAMSat


EcAMSat, or E. coli Anti Microbial Satellite, is NASA's first 6U CubeSat, developed to investigate the effects of microgravity on the antibiotic resistance of E. coli. The spacecraft was launched aboard an Orbital ATK Antares rocket from Wallops Flight Facility on 12 November 2017, and was deployed from the International Space Station on 20 November 2017. During the development of the PharmaSat spacecraft, two identical flight units were built and brought to the launch site, with the FLT-2 unit being the one ultimately launched as "PharmaSat". The FLT-1
12723285
Solar electric propulsion


Solar electric propulsion (SEP) typically refers to the combination of solar cells and an ion drive to propel a spacecraft through outer space. This technology has been exploited in a variety of spacecraft by the European Space Agency, the Japanese Space Agency, Indian Space Research Organisation and NASA. SEP is valued for its potential for a high specific impulse, thus allowing less mass for propellant to be launched with a spacecraft and it has been evaluated for mission to Mars. Solar electric propulsion combines solar panels on spacecraft and ion thrusters,
19663908
Cygnus CRS OA-9E


Antares, a medium-class launch vehicle; Cygnus, an advanced maneuvering spacecraft, and a Pressurized Cargo Module which is provided by Orbital's industrial partner Thales Alenia Space. The COTS demonstration mission was successfully conducted in September 2013, and Orbital commenced operational ISS cargo missions under the Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) program with two missions in 2014. Regrettably, the third operational mission, Orb CRS-3, resulted was not successful due to spectacular Antares failure during launch. The company decided to discontinue the Antares 100 series and accelerate the
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Bell (satellite)


. "Bell" was named after Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. The two other PhoneSat spacecraft launched aboard the same rocket were named "Alexander" and "Graham". The three PhoneSat spacecraft, along with the commercial Dove 1 satellite, were launched as secondary payloads aboard the maiden flight of the Antares carrier rocket; flight A-ONE. The primary payload was the Cygnus Mass Simulator. Liftoff occurred at 21:00 UTC on 21 April 2013, from Pad 0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport,
20086095
Cygnus (spacecraft)


The Cygnus spacecraft is a single-use American automated cargo spacecraft developed by Orbital Sciences and now built and launched by Northrop Grumman as part of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) developmental program. It is launched by Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket or ULA's Atlas V and is designed to transport supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) following the retirement of the American Space Shuttle. Since August 2000 ISS resupply missions have been regularly flown by the Russian Progress spacecraft, as well as by the European Automated Transfer
619346
Jason Andrews


75M a year business. Spaceflight signed its first customer contract in October 2011 with Cosmogia (which later changed its name to Planet Labs, and then just Planet).  It conducted its first two launches in April 2013, within hours of each other, one on a Russian Soyuz launch vehicle and the other on the maiden launch of the Orbital Antares launch vehicle. From 2013-2018 the company launched over 100 spacecraft for different customers. In 2013 Andrews founded BlackSky Global LLC to build the infrastructure to observe the planet in
11842607
Spaceflight Industries


delivered 78 payloads over 12 launches, piggybacking on, Antares, Dnepr, PSLV and Soyuz-2 rockets, or on board Cygnus and Dragon spacecraft to the ISS. In October 2015, Spaceflight Industries booked a launch slot on a Falcon 9 to deliver the 500-kg lunar lander built by SpaceIL for the Google Lunar X-Prize towards the end of 2017, but the partners failed to meet this target date. Beresheet launched February 22, 2019 on a rideshare with the telecom satellite Nusantara Satu. In November 2016, Part-Time Scientists
4684544
Cygnus CRS OA-8E


class launch vehicle; Cygnus, an advanced maneuvering spacecraft, and a Pressurized Cargo Module which is provided by Orbital's industrial partner Thales Alenia Space. The COTS demonstration mission was successfully conducted in September 2013, and Orbital commenced operational ISS cargo missions under the Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) program with two missions in 2014. Regrettably, the third operational mission, CRS Orb-3, was not successful due to spectacular Antares failure during launch. The company decided to discontinue the Antares 100 series and accelerate the introduction of a new propulsion system
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Cygnus CRS Orb-3


Cygnus CRS Orb-3, also known as Orbital Sciences CRS Flight 3 or Orbital 3, was an attempted flight of Cygnus, an automated cargo spacecraft developed by United States-based company Orbital Sciences, on 28 October 2014. The mission was intended to launch at 6:22 PM that evening. This flight, which would have been its fourth to the International Space Station and the fifth of an Antares launch vehicle, resulted in the Antares rocket exploding seconds after liftoff. This would have been the third of eight flights by Orbital Sciences under
1546894
Cygnus CRS Orb-1


Cygnus CRS Orb-1, also known as Orbital-1, was the second flight of the Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo spacecraft, its second flight to the International Space Station and the third launch of the company's Antares launch vehicle. The mission launched January 9th, 2014 at 1:07 PM. Orb-1 was the first of eight contracted flights by Orbital Sciences under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services program. This was the maiden flight of the Castor 30B second stage. Orbital Sciences continued its naming of Cygnus spacecraft in tribute to former astronauts. This vehicle was
15632375
Project FIRE


to 40,501 kilometers per hour. Instruments in the spacecraft radioed temperature data to the ground. The spacecraft exterior reached an estimated temperature of 11,400 K. About 32 minutes after launch, the spacecraft impacted into the Atlantic Ocean. During the second test, an Atlas D booster propelled the instrumented probe, called a "flying thermometer," into a ballistic trajectory over 805 km high. After 26 minutes of flight, when the spacecraft began its descent, the Antares rocket accelerated its fall. The probe entered the atmosphere at a speed of
4053758
Alexander (satellite)


PhoneSat spacecraft, along with the commercial Dove 1 satellite, were launched as secondary payloads aboard the maiden flight of the Antares carrier rocket; flight A-ONE. The primary payload was the Cygnus Mass Simulator. Liftoff occurred at 21:00 UTC on 21 April 2013, from Pad 0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, following attempts on 17 and 20 April which had been scrubbed due to an umbilical problem and high-level winds respectively. The launch was conducted by Orbital Sciences Corporation, however the CubeSats were launched under a
20085796
2013 in spaceflight


In 2013, the maiden spaceflight of the Orbital Sciences' Antares launch vehicle, designated "A-ONE", took place on 13 April. Orbital Science also launched its first spacecraft, Cygnus, that docked with the International Space Station in late September 2013. India's Indian Space Research Organisation launched its first mission to Mars with the Mars Orbiter Mission that successfully reached Mars orbit on 23 September 2013. Numerous significant milestones in robotic spaceflight occurred in 2013, including the landing of China's Chang'e 3 lander at Moon's Mare
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Antares (rocket)


, or manufacturing defects that had not been detected. The NASA Accident Investigation Report was more direct in its failure assessment. On October 6, 2015, almost one year after the accident, Pad 0A was restored to use. Total repair costs were about $15 million. Following the failure, Orbital sought to purchase launch services for its Cygnus spacecraft in order to satisfy its cargo contract with NASA, and on December 9, 2014, Orbital announced that at least one, and possibly two, Cygnus flights would be launched on
13122564
Cygnus NG-12


Orbital Sciences designed and built Antares, a medium-class launch vehicle; Cygnus, an advanced maneuvering spacecraft, and a Pressurized Cargo Module which is provided by Orbital's industrial partner Thales Alenia Space. Northrop Grumman purchased Orbital in June 2018; its ATK division was renamed Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. Production and integration of Cygnus spacecraft is performed in Dulles, VA. The Cygnus service module is mated with the pressurized cargo module at the launch site, and mission operations are conducted from control centers in Dulles and Houston. This will
8155828
Lituanica SAT-1


LituanicaSAT-1 was one of the two first Lithuanian satellites (other one being LitSat-1). It was launched along with the second Cygnus spacecraft and 28 Flock-1 CubeSats aboard an Antares 120 carrier rocket flying from Pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island to the International Space Station. The launch was scheduled to occur in December 2013, but later was rescheduled to 9 January 2014 and occurred then. The satellite was broadcasting greetings of Lithuanian president, Mrs. Dalia Grybauskaitė. The satellite was deployed from the International Space Station via
19722691
LitSat-1


LitSat-1 was one of the two first Lithuanian satellites (other one being Lituanica SAT-1). It was launched aboard the second Cygnus spacecraft along with 28 Flock-1 CubeSats aboard an Antares 120 carrier rocket flying from Pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island. The launch was scheduled to occur in December 2013, but later was rescheduled to 9 January 2014 and occurred then. The satellite was deployed from the International Space Station via the NanoRacks Cubesat Deployer on February 28, 2014. Three Lithuanian words will be broadcast from
19783408
Project FIRE


Project Fire flight tests originated from Launch Complex 12 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United States. An Atlas D launch vehicle lifted a Project FIRE spacecraft to an altitude of 122 km. After coasting to an apogee of more than 800 km, the velocity package would then FIRE the reentry vehicle into a minus 15 degree trajectory at a velocity of 11,300 meters per second. During the spacecraft's fall toward earth, a solid-fuel Antares II rocket behind the payload fired for 30 seconds, increasing the descent speed
4053757
James R. Thompson Jr.


1989. Thompson died in retirement on November 7, 2017 in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2018, Orbital ATK announced that its Cygnus spacecraft destined for the International Space Station on resupply mission OA-9 would be named the "S.S. J.R. Thompson" in Thompson's honor. The spacecraft was successfully launched on May 21, 2018 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia on an Orbital ATK Antares 230 launch vehicle and docked to the International Space Station's Node 1 Nadir Common Berthing Mechanism on May 24, 2018 by the Canadarm2 robotic
7592843
Cygnus (spacecraft)


announced that it had chosen Orbital Sciences as the new winner. On December 23, 2008, NASA awarded Orbital Sciences a $1.9 billion contract under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. Under this contract, Orbital Sciences will deliver up to 20 tons of cargo to the ISS through 2016 in eight Cygnus spacecraft flights. By April 2010 Orbital had displayed a full-scale model of the Cygnus cargo delivery spacecraft at the National Space Symposium (NSS) in Colorado Springs, CO. Launched on an Antares (renamed from
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Graham (satellite)


" and "Bell". The three PhoneSat spacecraft, along with the commercial Dove 1 satellite, were launched as secondary payloads aboard the maiden flight of the Antares carrier rocket; flight A-ONE. The primary payload was the Cygnus Mass Simulator. Liftoff occurred at 21:00 UTC on 21 April 2013, from Pad 0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, following attempts on 17 and 20 April which had been scrubbed due to an umbilical problem and high-level winds respectively. The launch was conducted by Orbital Sciences Corporation
20086091
Antares (rocket)


three hours beginning at 21:00 UTC (17:00 EDT), shortening to two hours at the start of the terminal count, and ten minutes later in the count. On October 28, 2014, the attempted launch of an Antares carrying a Cygnus cargo spacecraft on the Orb-3 resupply mission failed catastrophically six seconds after liftoff from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia. An explosion occurred in the thrust section just as the vehicle cleared the tower, and it fell back down onto the pad. The Range Safety officer
13122562
Launch Services Program


those worked by LSP. Members of the Launch Services Program perform research relating to launching unmanned NASA spacecraft. Research topics include (partial list): SPHERES-Slosh SPHERES-Slosh Experiment will be performed on the SPHERES Testbed on the International Space Station. The experiment launched on the Cygnus capsule going to the ISS via Orbital Sciences Corporation Commercial Resupply Services Orb-1 mission on an Antares on 2014.01.09. The Cygnus arrived at the ISS on 2014.01.12 and will spend five weeks unloading the cargo. The SPHERES-Slosh investigation uses small robotic satellites
2343698
Cygnus CRS Orb-1


the Antares rocket. Antares was rolled back to the HIF and time-sensitive cargo removed. The launch date was rescheduled for no earlier than 13 January 2014, but was later moved forward to 7 January after a scheduling conflict at Wallops was resolved. The launch was delayed one day due to cold temperatures at the launch site. NASA Wallops and Orbital Sciences announced the launch attempt on 8 January 2014 was scrubbed due to "an unusually high level of space radiation that exceeded by a considerable margin the constraints imposed on the mission
15632377
Cygnus CRS OA-8E


into the restricted area with less than a minute into the count. The Antares rocket launched the 8th Cygnus cargo vehicle on Sunday November 12 at 7:19:51 AM. This was the eighth of ten flights by Orbital ATK under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA, and is considered an extension over the originally contracted flights. This was the fifth flight of the enhanced-sized Cygnus PCM. In an Orbital ATK tradition, this Cygnus spacecraft was named the S.S. "Gene Cernan" after one of NASA's Apollo astronauts, Apollo 17
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Cygnus CRS Orb-1


to ensure the rocket's electronic systems are not impacted by a harsh radiation environment." Orbital later revised this, stating that a more extensive review of the radiation environment found it to be "within acceptable limits" of the Antares program, and that a launch would be attempted on 9 January. The Orb-1 mission successfully launched on 9 January 2014 at 18:07:05 UTC from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Launch Pad 0A. Solar array deployment occurred shortly after arriving in orbit. The Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station early on
15632378
Dnepr (rocket)


; the April 2007 launch with 14 payloads held the record until 20 November 2013, when an American Minotaur I placed 29 satellites and two experiment packages into orbit. The next day a Dnepr re-took the record, placing 32 satellites and an experiment package bolted to the upper stage into low Earth orbit. This record was broken by an Antares launch in January 2014 which carried 34 spacecraft. The committee investigating the failed launch on July 26, 2006 concluded that the failure was caused by a malfunctioning of the pumping hydraulic drive
3042401
Cygnus CRS Orb-3


the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. This was the first attempted flight of the Antares 130, which uses a more powerful Castor 30XL second stage, and the last flight of the standard-sized Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Module. In an Orbital Sciences tradition, this Cygnus spacecraft was named "Deke Slayton" after one of NASA's original Mercury Seven astronauts and Director of Flight Operations, who died in 1993. The mission was scheduled to launch on 27 October 2014 at 22:45 UTC from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at the
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N1 (rocket)


launch services, but the attempt ended in bankruptcy. Aerojet also modified the NK-33 to incorporate thrust vector control capability for Orbital Science's Antares launch vehicle. Antares used two of these modified AJ-26 engines for first stage propulsion. The first four launches of the Antares were successful, but on the fifth launch the rocket exploded shortly after launch. Preliminary failure analysis by Orbital pointed to a possible turbopump failure in one NK-33/AJ-26. Given Aerojet's previous problems with the NK-33/AJ-26 engine during the modification and test program (two
14321333
Cygnus CRS OA-4


a four-meter fairing, no solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage. In an Orbital ATK tradition, this Cygnus spacecraft was named "Deke Slayton II" after one of NASA's original Mercury Seven astronauts and Director of Flight Operations, who died in 1993. This spacecraft reuses the name "Deke Slayton", originally applied to the Orb-3 spacecraft which was lost in an Antares rocket explosion in October 2014. The mission was the first flight of the enhanced variant of Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft,
16347947
Cygnus CRS OA-6


V launch of CRS OA-6 on 23 March 2016. Orbital ATK plans subsequent launches of CRS OA-5 in Q3 2016 and CRS OA-7 in Q4 2016 on the new Antares 230. Together with CRS OA-6, these missions will enable Orbital ATK to cover their initial CRS contracted payload obligation. Production and integration of Cygnus spacecraft is performed in Dulles, Virginia. The Cygnus service module is mated with the pressurized cargo module at the launch site, and mission operations are conducted from control centers in Dulles and Houston. On 23 March 2016 (
1100453
Cygnus CRS Orb-3


repairs to the Wallops Flight Facility began; they were completed in the fall of 2016. To meet its Commercial Resupply Services obligations with NASA, Orbital launched two Enhanced Cygnus cargo spacecraft via Atlas V launch vehicle—CRS OA-4 ("Deke Slayton II") in December 2015 and CRS OA-6 ("Rick Husband") in March 2016—while a new engine was selected and tested for the Antares launch vehicle. Orbital had been conducting an evaluation and review of an AJ-26 replacement engine prior to the incident, and in the year following
1546904
Cygnus CRS Orb-2


Cygnus CRS Orb-2, also known as Orbital Sciences CRS Flight 2, was the third flight of the Orbital Sciences' unmanned resupply spacecraft Cygnus, its third flight to the International Space Station, and the fourth launch of the company's Antares launch vehicle. The mission launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on 13 July 2014 at 12:52 PM. This was the second of eight scheduled flights by Orbital Sciences under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. It was the last planned usage of the enhanced Castor 30B second stage for
15694792
TechEdSat


payload on the Cygnus CRS Orb-2 ISS resupply mission. The launch vehicle was the Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares-120, launching from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, VA on 13 July 2014. TechEdSat-4 was deployed from the International Space Station via the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer on 4 March 2015. TechEdSat-5 was a 4 kg, 3.5U CubeSat that was launched on 9 December 2016 aboard the HTV-6 cargo resupply spacecraft, and was deployed from the International Space Station at 18:20 UTC on 6 March 2017. It was the first satellite in
22021378
Commercial Resupply Services


into a single mission. The rescoped COTS Demo Flight 2 successfully launched on 22 May 2012, delivering cargo to the ISS. The spacecraft reentered on 31 May, landed in the Pacific Ocean, and was recovered, completed CRS certification requirements. Orbital Sciences first launched the Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on 21 April 2013 with a test payload. Orbital Sciences completed the Cygnus Orb-D1 demonstration flight on 29 September 2013, and the operational Cygnus CRS Orb-1 was launched 9 January 2014. Transport flights began under
2717679
Flock-1


Flock 1 is a US CubeSat satellite constellation launched on 9 January 2014. The satellite is built in a 3U CubeSat bus, and each constellation consists of 28 satellites. All instruments are powered by solar cells mounted on the spacecraft body, along with triple-folded wings, providing approximately 20 W at maximal power. Flock 1 constellation was launched from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Launch Pad 0, US, on 9 January 2014 by an Antares 120 rocket. The satellites were deployed from the ISS from 11 February 2014 to 28
7172916
Cygnus CRS OA-4


Cygnus CRS OA-4, also known as Orbital ATK CRS-4 and CRS Orb-4, was the fourth successful flight of the Orbital ATK uncrewed resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its third flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. With the Antares rocket undergoing a redesign following its failure during the Orb-3 launch, OA-4 was launched by an Atlas V rocket. Following three launch delays due to inclement weather beginning on 3 December 2015, OA-4 was launched at 21:44 UTC on 6 December 2015. With a liftoff weight of ,
16347945
Planetary Resources


testbed satellite was packaged in a 3U CubeSat form-factor of . The first attempt to validate and mature the technology met a setback on 28 October 2014, when the first Arkyd-3 test satellite was destroyed during launch in the explosion of the Antares rocket carrying it to the International Space Station (ISS). A second attempt to launch an Arkyd-3 spacecraft—designated "A3R", or "Arkyd-3 Reflight"—took place on 14 April 2015 with a flight of SpaceX CRS-6 to the ISS. After spending several months attached to the ISS,
16361016
NASA


& Whitney, Monitor Coating and UTRC have launched the project CAUTION (CoAtings for Ultra High Temperature detectION). This project aims to enhance the temperature range of the Thermal History Coating up to 1,500C and beyond. The final goal of this project is improving the safety of jet engines as well as increasing efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions. The Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, with Cygnus resupply spacecraft on board, launches from Pad-0A, Wednesday, April 17, 2019 at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman's 11th contracted
7951158
Orbital Sciences Corporation


develop, test and enhance U.S. missile defense systems. Orbital's Advanced Programs Group focused on developing and producing human-rated space systems, satellites and related systems for national security space programs, and advanced flight systems for atmospheric and space missions. In support of human space systems, Orbital is one of two companies providing commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station for NASA. Orbital's medium-class rocket- Antares is used to launch the Cygnus advanced maneuvering spacecraft to deliver cargo to the ISS. Under the Commercial Resupply Services
20240903
Commercial Resupply Services


Commercial Resupply Services phase 1 (CRS-1) in 2012: Following the failure, the Antares 230 system was upgraded with newly built RD-181 first-stage engines to provide greater payload performance and increased reliability. The next two spacecraft were launched on the Atlas V, with the switch to more powerful launch vehicles and the introduction of Enhanced Cygnus enabling Orbital ATK to cover their initial CRS contracted payload obligation by OA-7. During August 2015, Orbital ATK disclosed that they had received an extension of the resupply program for three extra missions. These
2717680
Cygnus NG-11


just twenty four hours prior to launch. Orbital ATK and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) program, then Orbital Sciences designed and built Antares, a medium-class launch vehicle; Cygnus, an advanced maneuvering spacecraft, and a Pressurized Cargo Module which is provided by Orbital's industrial partner Thales Alenia Space. Northrop Grumman purchased Orbital in June 2018; its ATK division was renamed Northrop Grumman Innovation
4582179
Apollo (spacecraft)


the S-IVB stage could leave the crew stranded in orbit, the separation system used multiple signal paths, multiple detonators and multiple explosive charges where the detonation of one charge would set off another even if the detonator on that charge failed to function. Once in space, the astronauts pressed the 'CSM/LV Sep' button on the control panel to separate the CSM from the launch vehicle. Detonating cord was ignited around the flange between the SM and SLA, and along the joints between the four SLA panels, releasing
18788495
2011 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election


to the UK Conservative Party. This prompts mixed reactions from senior party figures. 4 Sep – Ruth Davidson formally announces that she will stand in the contest. 5 Sep – Murdo Fraser launches his campaign in Edinburgh. 8 Sep – Ruth Davidson launches her campaign in Edinburgh. 11 Sep – Lord Forsyth, at one point a suggested leadership candidate, declares his backing for Ruth Davidson. 23 Sep – Nominations for leadership close. Margaret Mitchell confirms she will stand in the election. 2 Oct – David Mundell MP declares his backing
10722174
Antares (rocket)


the fifth launch on October 28, 2014, the rocket failed catastrophically, and the vehicle and payload were destroyed. The failure was traced to a fault in the first stage engines. After completion of a redesign program, the rocket had a successful return to flight on October 17, 2016, delivering cargo to the ISS. The NASA COTS award was for and Orbital Sciences expected to invest an additional $150 million, split between $130 million for the booster and $20 million for the spacecraft. A Commercial Resupply Service
13122544
Antares (rocket)


Atlas V rockets from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. As it happened, Cygnus OA-4 and OA-6 were launched with an Atlas V and the Antares 230 performed its maiden flight with Cygnus OA-5 in October 2016. One further mission was launched aboard an Atlas in April 2017 (OA-7), fulfilling Orbital's contractual obligations towards NASA. It was followed by the Antares 230 in regular service with OA-8E in November 2017, with three further missions scheduled on their extended contract. Note: Cygnus CRS OA-4, the first Enhanced Cygnus mission,
13122565
Cygnus CRS OA-7


the new Antares 230 (CRS OA-5) was delayed to October 2016 and performed successfully. This particular mission, known as OA-7, enabled Orbital ATK to cover their initial CRS contracted payload obligation. At NASA's request, OA-7 was switched from an Antares to an Atlas V rocket to increase the payload delivered to the ISS. Antares flights resumed with CRS OA-8E (the first of Orbital's extended contract with NASA) in November 2017. Production and integration of Cygnus spacecraft is performed in Dulles, Virginia. The Cygnus service module
14343601
Cygnus CRS OA-6


program with two missions in 2014. However, the third operational mission, Orb CRS-3, was unsuccessful due to catastrophic failure of its Antares 130 launch vehicle. Orbital discontinued the Antares 100 series in favor of the planned Antares 200, upgraded with newly built RD-181 first stage engines to provide greater payload performance and increased reliability. While the Antares 200 was under development in 2015–2016, the company contracted with United Launch Alliance for the Atlas V launch of CRS OA-4, which occurred on 6 December 2015, to be followed by the Atlas
1100452
Cygnus NG-10


to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) program, then Orbital Sciences designed and built Antares, a medium-class launch vehicle; Cygnus, an advanced maneuvering spacecraft, and a Pressurized Cargo Module which is provided by Orbital's industrial partner Thales Alenia Space. Northrop Grumman purchased Orbital in June 2018, and it was renamed Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. The COTS demonstration mission was successfully conducted in September 2013, and Orbital commenced operational ISS cargo missions
14343677
Orbital Sciences Corporation


2013 of the Cygnus spacecraft and the Antares launch vehicle under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, Orbital commenced regular ISS cargo missions under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract. The total NASA contract to Orbital is worth $1.9 Billion for providing eight pressurized cargo missions to the ISS. Cygnus is capable of delivering 2,000 kg of pressurized cargo to the ISS. An enhanced version to be flown in later CRS missions is able to deliver 2,700 kg of pressurized cargo. The first of the eight contracted Cygnus missions
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Cygnus CRS OA-5


, and with a second Atlas V launch of Cygnus in 2016. The company plans three Cygnus missions in 2016, in the first (CRS OA-6), third (CRS OA-5) and fourth quarters (CRS OA-7) of 2016. The Cygnus OA-5 and OA-7 will fly on the new Antares 230 and OA-6 will fly on second Atlas V in first quarter of 2016. These three missions enable Orbital ATK to fulfill their CRS contracted payload obligation. This particular mission is known as OA-5. Production and integration of Cygnus spacecraft is
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TKS (spacecraft)


Bugayskiy (the FGB block) as a manned spacecraft launched with Proton rocket alternative to the Soyuz spacecraft for use with "Almaz" space stations. Development began in 1965; the "Almaz programme" had been abandoned by the time the first TKS spacecraft flew in 1977. The VA spacecraft (""Vozvrashaemiy Apparat"") was flown separately on four test missions with two craft per launch to test the design, as well as one "all-up" test mission and three resupply missions. The project had further
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Antares (rocket)


, a 27-second test firing of the rocket's AJ26 engines was conducted successfully on February 22, 2013, following an attempt on February 13 which was abandoned before ignition. "A-ONE" used the Antares 110 configuration, with a Castor 30A second stage and no third stage. The launch took place from Pad 0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia. LP-0A was a former Conestoga launch complex which had only been used once before, in 1995, for the Conestoga's only orbital launch attempt
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Nimbus 4


Nimbus 4 (also called Nimbus D) was a meteorological satellite. It was the fourth in a series of the Nimbus program. Nimbus 4 was launched on April 8, 1970, by a Thor-Agena rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc, CA. The spacecraft functioned nominally until 30 Sep 1980. The satellite orbited the Earth once every 1 hour and 47 minutes, at an inclination of 80°. Its perigee was and apogee was . Nimbus 4, the fourth in a series of second-generation meteorological
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Cygnus Orb-D1


G. David Low." Cygnus Orb-D1 was launched by an Antares 110 rocket flying from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. The launch took place at 14:58:02.2 UTC on 18 September 2013, and successfully inserted the Cygnus into low Earth orbit. The launch marked the second flight of the Antares rocket and the final flight of the interim Antares 110 configuration. Rendezvous with the ISS was originally scheduled for the fourth day of the mission. However, the rendezvous was postponed due to a computer data link problem.
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Cygnus NG-10


under the Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) program with two missions in 2014. Regrettably, the third operational mission, Orb CRS-3, resulted was not successful due to spectacular Antares failure during launch. The company decided to discontinue the Antares 100 series and accelerate the introduction of a new propulsion. The Antares system will be upgraded with newly built RD-181 first-stage engines to provide greater payload performance and increased reliability. In the meantime, the company had contracted with United Launch Alliance for an Atlas V launch of CRS OA-4 in late
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Cygnus CRS OA-7


Cygnus CRS OA-7, also known as Orbital ATK CRS-7, is the eighth flight of the Orbital ATK unmanned resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its seventh flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. The mission launched on April 18th, 2017 at 11:11 AM. Orbital and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, then Orbital Sciences designed and built Antares, a medium-
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Cygnus CRS OA-8E


Cygnus CRS OA-8E, also known as Orbital ATK CRS-8E, was the ninth flight of the Orbital ATK unmanned resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its eighth flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. The mission launched on November 12, 2017 at 7:19 AM. Orbital and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) program, then Orbital Sciences designed and built Antares, a medium-
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Cygnus NG-11


Cygnus NG-11, previously known as CRS OA-11, is the twelfth flight of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its eleventh flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. The mission launched on 17 April 2019 at 4:46 PM EDT (20:46 UTC). This is the last mission from the extended CRS contract; follow-up missions are part of the CRS2 contract. NG-11 was also the first mission to utilize the Antares twenty four hour prior load where critical hardware could be loaded into Cygnus
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Cygnus CRS OA-5


Cygnus CRS OA-5, also known as Orbital Sciences CRS Flight 5, was the seventh planned flight of the Orbital Sciences' unmanned resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its sixth flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. The mission launched on October 17th, 2016 at 7:45 PM. Orbital and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) program, Orbital designed and built Antares, a
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Cygnus CRS OA-7


. The third operational mission, Orb CRS-3, was not successful due to an Antares failure during launch. The company decided to discontinue the Antares 100 series and accelerate the introduction of a new propulsion system. The Antares system was upgraded with newly built RD-181 first stage engines to provide greater payload performance and increased reliability. In the meantime, the company contracted with United Launch Alliance for two Atlas V launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida: CRS OA-4 flew in December 2015 and CRS OA-6 in March 2016. The first Cygnus mission on
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Antares (rocket)


during testing at Stennis Space Center in May 2014 and the Orb-3 launch failure in October 2014, likely caused by an engine turbopump, the Antares 100-series was retired. Due to concerns over corrosion, aging, and the limited supply of AJ26 engines, Orbital had selected new first stage engines. The new engines were planned to debut in 2017 and allow Orbital to bid on a second major long-term contract for cargo resupply of the ISS. Less than one month after the loss of the Antares rocket in October 2014, Orbital
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Tianzhou 1


braking maneuvers under ground control. It uses the first flight model of the Tianzhou. It is a Chinese automated cargo spacecraft developed from the Tiangong-1 to resupply its future modular space station. Tianzhou 1 launched successfully on 20 April 2017 at 7:41pm local time, from the Wenchang space center. This marked the second time a Long March 7 has been used, and the first one for a mission. Tianzhou-1 became the heaviest Chinese spacecraft ever launched, at that time. This mission demonstrated the Tianzhou spacecraft and its capabilities. It critically
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Cygnus CRS OA-5


the Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) program with two missions in 2014. Regrettably, the third operational mission, Orb CRS-3, was not successful due to spectacular Antares failure during launch. The company decided to discontinue the Antares 100 series and accelerate the introduction of a new propulsion system. The Antares system is being upgraded with newly built RD-181 first stage engines to provide greater payload performance and increased reliability. In late 2014 Orbital contracted United Launch Alliance for an Atlas V launch of Orb OA-4 in late 2015 from Cape Canaveral, FL
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Asteroid Redirect Mission


-site check-out of critical systems before the crew departs. Not only would the solar electric propulsion (SEP) technologies and designs be applied to future missions, but the ARRM spacecraft would be left in a stable orbit for reuse. The project has baselined any of multiple refueling capabilities; the asteroid-specific payload is at one end of the bus, for possible removal and replacement via future servicing, or as a separable spacecraft, leaving a qualified space tug in cislunar space. The robotic and crewed missions would demonstrate
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Cygnus (spacecraft)


Segment (USOS). In essence, what Orbital ATK proposed for their CRS-2 contract was an Antares-based Cygnus design and an Atlas-based Cygnus to take advantage of both vehicles lifting capabilities – placing the smaller Cygnus on Antares and the larger Cygnus with more cargo on an Atlas V. Frank DeMauro, Vice President of Human Space Systems and Space Logistics & CRS Program Director for Orbital ATK commented, "We did that to give NASA maximum flexibility in picking and choosing the types of missions they want. "List includes only
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NK-33


on 5 November 2014, Orbital decided to drop the AJ-26 first stage from the Antares and source an alternative engine. On 17 December 2014, Orbital Sciences announced that it would use the NPO Energomash RD-181 on second-generation Antares launch vehicles and had contracted directly with NPO Energomash for up to 60 RD-181 engines. Two engines are used on the first stage of the current Antares. RSC Energia is proposing an "Aurora-L.SK" launch vehicle, which would use an NK-33 to power the first stage and a Blok DM-
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InterPlanetary Network


showed that bursts originated at great distances. Other spacecraft (such as the OGO, OSO, and IMP series) had detectors for Earth, Solar, or all-sky gamma radiation, and also confirmed the GRB phenomenon. Scientists began to tailor instruments specifically for GRBs. The Helios-2 spacecraft carried a detector with precision time resolution to a Solar orbit that took it over one AU from Earth. Helios-2 was launched in 1976. In 1978, multiple spacecraft were launched, forming the necessary baselines for a position determination. The Pioneer
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Antares (rocket)


. Antares became the largest — and first — liquid-fuelled rocket to fly from Wallops Island, as well as the largest rocket launched by Orbital Sciences. The first attempt to launch the rocket, on April 17, 2013, was scrubbed after an umbilical detached from the rocket's second stage, and a second attempt on April 20 was scrubbed due to high altitude winds. At the third attempt on April 21, the rocket lifted off at the beginning of its launch window. The launch window for all three attempts was
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Orbital Sciences Corporation


of the Antares space launch vehicle, Orbital is extending its capabilities to provide medium-class launch services for U.S. government, commercial and international customers. The inaugural launch of Antares occurred on April 21, 2013 from Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Virginia. Orbital is also a major provider of suborbital target and interceptor launch vehicles for the U.S. missile defense systems. In the last 10 years, Orbital conducted nearly 50 major launches for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Air Force, the Army and Navy to
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Dragon Spacecraft Qualification Unit


. On March 13, 2010, the first stage engines successfully underwent a 3.5 second static test firing, having failed a previous attempt the day before. SpaceX announced in September 2009 that the Dragon Spacecraft Qualification Unit would be the payload for the first Falcon 9 launch. At the time, launch was scheduled to occur no earlier than November 2009. The launch date had been delayed several times for various reasons, The spacecraft was launched and entered orbit on June 4, 2010. The first actual launch attempt targeted a four-
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Mars 2M No.522


the cosmodrome as a pool of spilled nitrogen tetroxide was blocking one of the entryways out, while other entryway was blocked by the still-intact second stage of the rocket. By the time this had happened, the alignment of Earth and Mars necessary to launch spacecraft had ended, and the Soviets were unable to launch any further Mars probes until 1971. It also resulted in delays to a number of Luna spacecraft scheduled for launch in 1969.The accident left a deep impression on Soviet military personnel attending the launch and helped spur the development
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Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport


. The launch tower was subsequently demolished in September 2008, and has now been rebuilt for use by the Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems Antares. The pad modifications for Antares included the construction of a Horizontal Integration Facility for launcher/payload mating and a wheeled transporter/erector that will "roll out and erect the rocket on its launch pad about 24 hours prior to launch." Launch pad 0B (LP-0B) became operational in 1999, and was subsequently upgraded with the construction of a mobile service tower, which was completed in 2004
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Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Launch Pad 0


Chart excludes the only launch of Conestoga from pad 0A in 1995." 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 2009-2011 for Orbital Sciences "Taurus II", now renamed Antares. Pad modifications for Antares included the construction of a Horizontal Integration Facility for launcher/payload mating and a wheeled transporter/erector that will roll out and erect the rocket on its launch pad about 24 hours prior to launch.
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Mars landing


on May 25, 2008. It is famous for having been successfully photographed while landing, since this was the first time one spacecraft captured the landing of another spacecraft onto a planetary body (the Moon not being a planet, but a satellite). "Phoenix" was followed by the Mars Science Laboratory, a rover more capable than "Spirit" and "Opportunity". Originally the Mars Science Laboratory was intended for a launch during 2009 however, it was launched on November 26, 2011. Russia launched Fobos-Grunt
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Launch window


point. It may be continuous (i.e. able to launch every second in the launch window) or may be a collection of discrete instantaneous points between the open and close. Launch windows and days are usually calculated in UTC and then converted to the local time of where the rocket and spacecraft operators are located (frequently multiple time zones for USA launches). For trips into largely arbitrary Earth orbits, no specific launch time is required. But if the spacecraft intends to rendezvous with an object already in orbit, the launch must
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Alan Shepard


three-day mission. He named Mercury Spacecraft 15B "Freedom 7 II" in honor of his first spacecraft, but the mission was canceled. Shepard was designated as the commander of the first crewed Project Gemini mission, but was grounded in 1963 due to Ménière's disease, an inner-ear ailment that caused episodes of extreme dizziness and nausea. This was surgically corrected in 1969, and in 1971, Shepard commanded the Apollo 14 mission, piloting the Apollo Lunar Module "Antares" to the most accurate landing of the
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Asteroid Redirect Mission


that pushes the spacecraft forward. The spacecraft concept would have a dry mass of 5.5 tons, and could store up to 13 tons of xenon propellant. Each thruster would have a 30- to 50-kilowatt power level, and several thrusters can be combined to increase the power of an SEP spacecraft. This engine, which is scalable to 300 kilowatts and beyond, is being researched and developed by Northrop Grumman with Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Michigan. NASA Glenn Research Center is managing the project. Even at a destination, the
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Human-rating certification


Human-rating certification, previously known as man-rating, is the certification of a spacecraft or launch vehicle as capable of safely transporting humans. There is no one particular standard for human-rating a spacecraft or launch vehicle, and the various entities that launch or plan to launch such spacecraft specify requirements for their particular systems to be human rated. One entity that applies human rating is the US government civilian space agency, NASA. NASA's human-rating requires not just that a system be designed to be tolerant of
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List of Launch Services Program launches


Tempel 1 in July 2005. The "fly-by" spacecraft collected images of the comet before its "impactor" spacecraft reached the comet, and after the impact to study the pristine interior of one of its craters. NASA's Mercury Surface, Space, Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft launched aboard a Delta II rocket in August 2004. The spacecraft made the 4.9-billion-mile trek to Mercury, with 15 trips around the sun and flybys of the Earth and Venus along the way. The spacecraft
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Kosmos 419


9, in the aim of becoming the first Mars orbiter. As it was, Mariner 8 was lost in a launch failure two days before Kosmos 419 was launched, and Mariner 9 went on to become the first spacecraft to orbit Mars. Kosmos 419 was one of three "Mars" spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union in 1971, the others being Mars 2 and Mars 3; launched days after Kosmos 419. Unlike the 4M spacecraft, Mars 2 and 3, Kosmos 419 was a 3MS spacecraft which consisted only of
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Launch and Early Orbit phase


In spacecraft operations, The Launch and Early Orbit phase (LEOP) is one of the most critical phases of a mission. Spacecraft operations engineers take control of the satellite after it separates from the launch vehicle up to the time when the satellite is safely positioned in its final orbit. During this period, operations staff works 24 hours a day to activate, monitor and control the various subsystems of the satellite, including the deployment of any satellite appendages (antennas, solar array, reflector, etc.), and undertake critical
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Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Launch Pad 0


The first launch of Antares occurred on April 21, 2013. The pad was reinforced with pilings and features a liquid fueling facility, flame trench, and deluge system for cooling and sound suppression. The pad is capable of supporting a gross liftoff weight of and can launch payloads of up to into low Earth orbit On October 28, 2014, an Orbital Systems Antares rocket, flying as mission Cygnus CRS Orb-3, crashed 6 seconds after takeoff and appeared to have done significant damage to the launch pad itself. On October 29,
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Antares MA-32


The Antares MA-32 is the first model in a large family of Ukrainian ultralight trikes that is designed and produced by Antares Aircraft and at one time marketed by Leading Edge Air Foils as the LEAF Antares. The aircraft are supplied as kits for amateur construction. The MA-32 is a two-seat design that was originally developed for European microlight competition flying. The aircraft has a standard empty weight of . It features a cable-braced hang glider-style high-wing, weight-shift controls, an open cockpit, tricycle landing
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Robotic spacecraft


travel. However, the amount of thrust produced is extremely low and that it needs a lot of electrical power to operate. Mechanical components often need to be moved for deployment after launch or prior to landing. In addition to the use of motors, many one-time movements are controlled by pyrotechnic devices. Robotic spacecraft are specifically designed system for a specific hostile environment. Due to their specification for a particular environment, it varies greatly in complexity and capabilities. While an uncrewed spacecraft is a spacecraft without personnel or crew and
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Antares (rocket)


contract of $1.9 billion for 8 flights was awarded in 2008. As of April 2012, development costs were estimated at $472 million. On June 10, 2008, it was announced that the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, formerly part of the Wallops Flight Facility, in Virginia, would be the primary launch site for the rocket. Launch pad 0A (LP-0A), previously used for the failed Conestoga rocket, would be modified to handle Antares. Wallops allows launches which reach the International Space Station's orbit as effectively
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Shenzhou (spacecraft)


efforts at human spaceflight started in 1968 with a projected launch date of 1973. Although China successfully launched an uncrewed satellite in 1970, its crewed spacecraft program was cancelled in 1980 due to lack of funds. The Chinese crewed spacecraft program was relaunched in 1992 with Project 921. The Phase One spacecraft followed the general layout of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, with three modules that could separate for reentry. China signed a deal with Russia in 1995 for the transfer of Soyuz technology, including life support and docking systems. The Phase One
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Interplanetary spaceflight


reaction products (propellant) on the Solar System body until such time as a vehicle needs to be loaded for launch. SpaceX is currently developing a system in which a reusable first stage vehicle would transport a manned interplanetary spacecraft to earth orbit, detach, return to its launch pad where a tanker spacecraft would be mounted atop it, then both fueled, then launched again to rendezvous with the waiting manned spacecraft. The tanker would then transfer its fuel to the manned spacecraft for use on its interplanetary voyage. The SpaceX "Interplanetary
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Apollo 14


"BEEP BEEP" and the backup crew's names are given. Several of these patches were hidden by the backup crew and found during the flight by the crew in notebooks and storage lockers in both the CSM "Kitty Hawk" and the LM "Antares" spacecraft, and one patch was even stored on the MET lunar hand cart. The Apollo 14 command module "Kitty Hawk" is on display at the Apollo/Saturn V Center building at the Kennedy Space Center after being on display at the United States Astronaut Hall
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Virginia Commercial Spaceflight Authority


pad modifications for Antares included the construction of a Horizontal Integration Facility for launcher/payload mating and a wheeled transporter/erector that will "roll out and erect the rocket on its launch pad about 24 hours prior to launch." The facility suffered significant damage during the 28 October 2014 Antares launch failure, according to NASA officials in the immediate aftermath. The State of Virginia is seeking help from its two US Senators to obtain Federal funding for rebuilding the pad. Preliminary estimates for rebuilding the pad indicate the cost should be no
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Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site


Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site (), located in Wenchang, Hainan, China. It is one of the two spacecraft launch sites of Xichang Satellite Launch Center (the other site is in Xichang). It is a former sub-orbital test center. It is China's fourth and southernmost space vehicle launch facility (spaceport). It has been specially selected for its low latitude, which is only 19 degrees north of the equator, which will allow for a substantial increase in payload, necessary for the future manned program,
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McDonnell Douglas DC-X


Earth orbit takes about 90 to 120 minutes, the Earth will rotate to the east about 20 to 30 degrees in that time; or for a launch from the southern United States, about . If the spacecraft is launched to the east this does not present a problem, but for the polar orbits required of military spacecraft, when the orbit is complete the spacecraft overflies a point far to the west of the launch site. In order to land back at the launch site, the craft needs to have considerable cross-range
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