This mission is the first Cygnus mission to utilize NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force base in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
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According to Orbital Sciences, the launch was originally scheduled for 5:55 pm EST and no technical difficulties were reported. Its cargo capsule will carry more than 7,000 pounds of food, water, and supplies to the crew members of the International Space Station.
A spacecraft carrying supplies to the International Space Station is set to launch Thursday afternoon. The forecast shows a 30 percent chance of favorable weather conditions Friday. (Another Progress craft made it safely to the ISS in July.) About this launch, though: The rocket carrying the Cygnus is an upgraded, more powerful one from United Launch Alliance, the partnership company of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
A successful launch would restart the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s effort to commercialize resupply missions to the ISS.
Orbital plans another shipment via an Atlas in March, followed by the return of Antares in May.
Orbital ATK competed with SpaceX to transport astronauts to the ISS under its contract with NASA.
It would take about three days for the cargo to reach the ISS, so if the weather permits the launch on Friday, astronauts in the ISS can expect their supplies by Monday. Orbital contracted with ULA to use the Atlas for two missions in order to resume flight operations as quickly as possible after the mishap.
In October 2014, an Orbital rocket packed with thousands of pounds of supplies exploded seconds after takeoff, marking the first catastrophic failure since private companies began resupplying the orbiting outpost in 2010.
Mission Description:Cygnus is a low-risk design incorporating elements drawn from Orbital ATK and its partners’ existing, flight-proven spacecraft technologies. A Russian cargo spacecraft had also failed to launch in April 2015.
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When asked if he felt well about Thursday’s launch, Culbertson said: “We feel extremely confident, or we wouldn’t be sitting on top of that rocket right now”.
