Two RD-181 integrated with the Antares first stage air frame at the Wallops Island, Virginia Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF). A “h...
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| Two RD-181 integrated with the Antares first stage air frame at the Wallops Island, Virginia Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF). A “hot fire” test on Pad 0A is scheduled for late 2015 or early 2016. Photo credit: NASA/ Terry Zaperach |
Orbital ATK is moving forward with integration of a new first stage propulsion system into the Antares launch vehicle in preparation for multiple CRS missions in 2016.
Orbital ATK will use the Russian RD-181 rocket engine, replacing the RD-180, which is blamed for the launch failure of Antares during a CRS mission to International Space Station in October 2014.
Orbital ATK’s Antares program remains on schedule to commence flight operations from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in early 2016. Following the completion of certification and acceptance testing of the RD-181, the first dual-engine ship-set arrived at the Antares integration facilities at Wallops Island in mid-July.
“The RD-181 engine provides extra thrust and higher specific impulse, significantly increasing the payload capacity of the Antares rocket. This state-of-the-art propulsion system is a direct adaptation of the RD-191 engine, which completed an extensive qualification and certification program in 2013, accumulating more than 37,000 seconds of total run time,” said Mr. Scott Lehr, President of Orbital ATK’s Flight Systems Group.
Antares program engineers and technicians recently integrated the two RD-181 engines with a newly designed and built thrust frame adapter and modified first stage airframe. Later this month, new propellant feed lines and first stage avionics systems will be delivered to Wallops to support full vehicle integration. Orbital ATK plans to conduct a “hot fire” test on the launch pad late this year or in early 2016 to verify the vehicle’s operational performance and compatibility of the MARS launch complex.
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| The MARS Pad 0A repairs are on track with completion scheduled for this fall to support an upcoming Antares hot fire test and return to flight operations in 2016. Photo credit: NASA/ Brea Reeves. |
Repairs of the MARS Pad 0A launch facility at Wallops Island, which was damaged during the Oct launch failure, are currently underway and are scheduled to be completed within the next eight weeks. Working with MARS, Orbital ATK has installed an upgraded hydraulic system used to erect Antares vertically on the pad, which recently completed testing and certification. Other launch pad systems are on track to comfortably support the on-pad Antares “hot fire” test late this year or in early 2016.
Orbital ATK will launch its next Cygnus spacecraft to the ISS aboard an Atlas V rocket supplied by United Launch Alliance (ULA) from Cape Canaveral, Florida in early December to meet company’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract for NASA. This mission will fly the extended Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) which will carry approximately 3,500 kg or 7,700 pounds of supplies to station.
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| The Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Module for the OA-4 mission arrived at the Kennedy Space Centerfor processing in preparation for the upcoming CRS space station resupply mission to be launched from Florida in early December. Photo credit: Orbital ATK. |
“In 2016, we will carry out at least three more CRS missions: two or three will be launched by Antares rockets, the first of which is on a path to be ready to launch early in the year, and one more launch aboard Atlas V to support NASA’s need for additional cargo,”In addition to the larger PCM for the upcoming CRS missions, the spacecraft will utilize the latest in lightweight and space-qualified power system technology with the addition of the company’s Ultraflex solar arrays.
The pressurized cargo module for the OA-4 mission arrived at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in early August, with the service module arriving in October. Integration with the launch vehicle will begin in November at KSC prior to its integration with the Atlas V rocket for an early December launch.
