Orbital ATK yesterday took a significant step towards getting its Antares lifter back in the air with a successful test fire of the rocket’s revamped first stage propulsion system.
Advertisement
NASA said Wednesday the test sought to assess the performance of the integrated first stage – including new engines, modified Stage 1 core, avionics, thrust vector control and pad fueling systems – in an operational environment.
Engineers plan to review data from the hotfire test in the coming days to ensure all systems performed as designed before Orbital ATK resumes Antares cargo launches to the International Space Station in July.
Designers made a decision to use them after the launch failure that led to an explosion on lift off for a mission that was to resupply the International Space Station.
NASA some operational milestones were reached Tuesday, including full propellant loading sequence, launch countdown and engine ignition and shut down commands, as well as multiple throttle settings including full engine power.
Last March it was announced that the USA corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation would purchase from Russia’s NPO Energomash another eight RD-181 engines for its space vehicle Antares.
Orbital ATK General Manager and Vice President Mike Pinkston says the test was successful.
Last year, the engine had also completed a series of certification test.
“This gives us further confidence in the first stage propulsion and in moving forward to launch”.
Image: Conducted at Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) site of Virginia Space, US, the duration of the test was 30 seconds.
Orbital is now prepping an Antares for its Cygnus CRS (Commercial Resupply Services) OA-5 mission to the ISS, slated for lift-off this summer.
Advertisement
An enhanced Cygnus creeps up on the ISS in December 2015. That incident pretty much ended Antares’ ISS runs while Orbital ATK redesigned the engine that researchers blamed for the malfunction. The company designs, builds and delivers space, defense and aviation systems for customers around the world, both as a prime contractor and merchant supplier.
