Soaring into a brilliant blue sky from a new launch pad on the Virginia coastline, an Antares rocket owned by Orbital Sciences Corp. blasted off on a successful test flight Sunday, inaugurating a new launch system to resupply the International Space Station.
The first launch of the Antares rocket is a major step in a joint venture
between Orbital Sciences and NASA to develop two commercial space
transportation systems to resupply the space station, replacing much of the
cargo-carrying capacity lost when the space shuttle retired in 2011.
"Today's successful test marks another significant milestone in NASA's
plan to rely on American companies to launch supplies and astronauts to the
International Space Station, bringing this important work back to the United
States where it belongs," said NASA
Administrator Charles Bolden in a statement.
NASA is turning to the private sector for commercial cargo and crew launches
to the space station. Orbital Sciences and SpaceX, which has completed its
series of test missions, were picked by NASA for cargo services.
"Congratulations to Orbital Sciences and the NASA team that worked
alongside them for the picture-perfect launch of the Antares rocket,"
Bolden said. "In addition to providing further evidence that our strategic
space exploration plan is moving forward, this test also inaugurates America's
newest spaceport capable of launching to the space station, opening up
additional opportunities for commercial and government users."
Sunday's demonstration flight paves the way for another mission this summer,
in which Orbital Sciences will launch its second Antares rocket with a Cygnus
spacecraft on top on a mission all the way to the space station.
If successful, the Cygnus mission this summer will clear the path for at
least eight operational cargo runs using the Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo
craft.
Engineers will analyze data from Sunday's launch before approving the flight
to space station, but early indications are everything well according to plan.
"It certainly was an amazing achievement for Orbital today, a great day
for NASA, and another historic day for commercial spaceflight in America,"
said Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation
Services program, which oversees the agency's agreement with Orbital. "The
flight today was just beautiful, and it looks like the preliminary data says
all the objectives we established for the flight today were 100 percent met."
The 13-story rocket lifted off at 5 p.m. EDT
(2100 GMT) from launch pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport - a
facility financed by the government of Virginia
- and ascended into the sky atop a pillar of bluish golden flame from two main
engines.
The launch started slow - as designed - with the rocket's two engines
providing just enough power to lift the 300-ton booster from the ground. As the
rocket burned propellant, and got lighter, the vehicle accelerated southeast
from the launch pad at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, disappearing from the
view of observers on the ground about four minutes into the launch.
"After a while it was going like a scalded ape," said Frank
Culbertson, a veteran former NASA astronaut and executive vice president at
Orbital Sciences. "It was accelerating quickly, and everything looked very
good as it climbed into the sky, and it was a beautiful blue sky today."
The first stage engines, built in Russia
in the 1970s and modernized by Aerojet, powered the launcher into the upper
atmosphere, sending a wall of sound across the Virginia
coast heard for miles around.
The twin-engine first stage shut down less than four minutes into the
mission, releasing the rocket's solid-fueled second stage to propel the booster
into orbit.
The Castor 30 second stage motor, built by ATK, ignited for a burn lasting
two-and-a-half minutes, accelerating the rocket to more than 17,000 mph.
Engineers declared the rocket reached orbit, and the upper stage deployed a
8,377-pound block of aluminum designed to mimic the mass characteristics of the
Cygnus spacecraft, which will take the dummy payload's place on the next
Antares launch.
"All of that demonstrated that when we do this again, we know how to
make this happen," Culbertson said. "We'll get that payload - the
Cygnus - into orbit and on its way to the International Space Station so it can
continue its mission, and we can provide the cargo, the experiments, clothing
and food that they need."
The instrumented mass simulator is just dead weight on its own, but a suite
of more than 70 accelerometers, thermocouples, thermometers, strain gauges and
microphones beamed data back to ground antennas through the rocket's
communications radio before it severed ties with the launch vehicle.
The rocket reached a near-circular orbit with an average altitude of about
155 miles, or 250 kilometers.
"We will have to do some additional evaluation to see if we're exactly
on target, or if we need to make some adjustments," Culbertson said.
"If we need to make adjustments to future flights, we will do so, but we
certainly achieved orbit and that was the main goal."
It was the largest rocket ever to launch from the Wallops Flight Facility,
which has hosted about 16,000 launches over its 68-year history. With funding
from the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, the historic launch base
added a new $120 million launch pad with equipment to support larger rockets
and cryogenic liquid propellant.
Liquid propellant is a new paradigm for Orbital Sciences, which has flown
scores of satellite launchers with all-solid-fueled stages.
Orbital hopes the Antares rocket, which is now on contract to fly nine more
times, finds business launching commercial, military and scientific satellites
over the next decade or longer.
The 31-year-old company, based in Dulles, Va.,
started working on the Antares rocket in 2007 as an internal project. Orbital
Sciences won an agreement with NASA in February 2008 to share to design, build
and test a cargo transportation system using the Antares rocket and Cygnus
spacecraft.
The agreement with NASA is now worth up to $288 million. The space agency
pays Orbital upon completion of preset milestones, and Orbital is expected to
collect a $4 million payment following Sunday's successful test flight.
Including investments from NASA, Orbital and the Commonwealth
of Virginia, the Antares rocket,
Cygnus spacecraft and the new launch pad collectively cost nearly $1 billion.
According to Culbertson, development of the Cygnus spacecraft cost about
$300 million. The Antares rocket cost a little more, he said, declining to give
a specific figure. An official with the Virginia Commercial Space Flight
Authority said the launch pad cost about $120 million.
In December 2008, NASA chose Orbital and SpaceX for operational resupply
flights to the space station. NASA's $1.9 billion contract with Orbital covers
eight missions to carry at least 20 metric tons to the orbiting complex. SpaceX
received a $1.6 billion deal for 12 missions, including the capability to
return equipment to Earth.
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