Antares Launch Success

NASA commercial space partner Orbital Sciences Test Launches Antares Rocket
“Corporation Sunday launched its Antares rocket at 05:00 p.m. EDT from the new Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The test flight was the first launch from the pad at Wallops and was the first flight of Antares, which delivered the equivalent mass of a spacecraft, a so-called mass simulated payload, into Earth’s orbit.”
White House Statement on the Launch of Antares
“Today’s successful test flight of Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket from the spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia, demonstrates an additional private space-launch capability for the United States and lays the groundwork for the first Antares cargo mission to the International Space Station later this year.”

Orbital Reschedules New Antares Rocket Launch Window after Winds Prevent Saturday Launch
“Orbital Sciences Corporation today announced that excessive, high-altitude wind speeds prevented the planned April 20 launch attempt of the Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. The next launch attempt is scheduled to take place no earlier than Sunday, April 21, with a window extending from 5 – 8 p.m.”
Graphics: How To See The Antares Launch From The Washington DC and Virginia Area
Orbital Schedules New Antares Rocket Launch Window
“Orbital Sciences Corporation today announced that the next launch attempt for the new Antares rocket will be no earlier than Saturday, April 20, at 5 p.m. The mission management team met this afternoon to evaluate weather forecasts and optimum crew work schedules to provide two back-to-back opportunities for a launch attempt.”
Orbital’s Antares Rocket Launch Postponed
Keith’s note: For some reason Orbital Sciences seems to be uninterested in posting these graphics on their website or otherwise distributing them to people in the Greater Washington DC/Virginia/Maryland area such that people can see the launch of Antares. Yet another odd PR decision from Orbital.
Keith’s update: Orbital posted some (but not all) of these charts via Twitter after @NASAWatch pestered them. Alas, they do not know how to post them on their website, so they tweet a link to our posting at SpaceRef where all of their charts are posted. Odd.
Orbital Overview briefing (PDF)
Antares Status Report 14 April 2013
“On Saturday, Orbital conducted the wet dress rehearsal for the Antares rocket in preparation its Test Flight scheduled for later this week on April 17. Late in the countdown, at about T-16 minutes, the test was halted because the launch team had detected a technical anomaly in the process. Orbital has determined that a secondary pyro valve aboard one of the two first-stage engines used in the propellant chilldown process was not functioning properly. A replacement unit will be installed within 24 hours with the goal of maintaining the April 17 launch date.”