Antares Launch Postponed Until Wednesday

Image Credit: NASA/Brea Reeves

Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., has confirmed it will postpone by at least 24 hours the launch of its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft on a demonstration mission to the International Space Station from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia. 

The new launch window is targeted for 
Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013
between 10:50 to 11:05 a.m. EDT from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at Wallops.

 Rendezvous with the space station remains scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 22. NASA Television will air pre- and post-launch news conferences and provide live launch and rendezvous coverage of the mission. 

The postponement is due to a combination of Friday’s poor weather, which delayed roll-out of Antares to the launch pad, and a technical issue identified during a combined systems test held Friday night involving communications between ground equipment and the rocket’s flight computer. Additional testing is underway to resolve the issue.