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| Antares rocket/2013 NASA Photo |
Orbital Sciences Corporation today announced that it is targeting a “no-earlier-than” date of May 6, 2014 for the launch of its next commercial cargo resupply (CRS) mission to the International Space Station. The mission will originate from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility located in Eastern Virginia. The targeted launch time for the Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft is 3:44 p.m. (EDT), which is at the beginning of a 5-minute launch window that extends to 3:49 p.m. (EDT).
This mission, known as Orb-2, will represent the third time Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft will have delivered cargo to the ISS, including the demonstration mission under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement that was completed in October 2013 and the first of eight CRS missions, Orb-1, completed in February 2014. At the completion of the Orb-2 mission, Orbital’s system will have delivered approximately 3,800 kilos (about 8,400 lbs.) of cargo to support the Expedition crews conducting research and living aboard the ISS. The Orb-2 mission will also represent the fourth launch of the medium-class Antares rocket in its first 13 months of operations, a significant achievement for a new rocket program.
More information about the upcoming mission will be made available by Orbital and NASA in the coming weeks, including details of the cargo and scientific experiments to be delivered to the Station by Cygnus.
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