One week after the catastrophic explosion of its fifth Antares booster—which lost all forward momentum and was remotely destroyed by the Range Safety Officer (RSO) seconds after liftoff from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, Va.—Orbital Sciences Corp. has announced comprehensive plans to fulfil its contractual obligations to NASA. “To maintain the CRS program’s critical ISS supply line, Orbital plans an early introduction of its previously selected Antares propulsion system upgrade in 2016,” the company reported. “This will be preceded by one or two non-Antares launches of the company’s’ Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the ISS in 2015-2016, employing the spacecraft’s compatibility with various launch vehicles and its flexibility to accommodate heavier cargo loads as launcher capacity permits.” A resumption of Antares operations, with the upgraded engine system, is anticipated “in 2016.” americaspace/?p=70486
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 19:14:29 +0000
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