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Commercialization

Cygnus Launched

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
September 18, 2013
Filed under , , ,
The #Antares rocket has launched http://wapo.st/1eQ78ZA  on Twitpic

NASA commercial space partner Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., launched its Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard its Antares rocket at 10:58 a.m. EDT Wednesday from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
NASA Partner Orbital Sciences Launches Demonstration Mission to Space Station [Watch]
NASA commercial space partner Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., successfully launched its Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard its Antares rocket at 10:58 a.m. EDT Wednesday from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
This is the first time a spacecraft launched from Virginia is blazing a trail toward the International Space Station, heralding a new U.S. capability to resupply the orbiting laboratory.

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

27 responses to “Cygnus Launched”

  1. Saturn1300 says:
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    For the first time an ISS launch is heading SE. Down orbit. It could be that they can not launch up orbit because of passing over inhabited areas. A launch to the SE at KSC would go over a lot of islands. This is a first. Looks like some one would mention it. H2 might go SE. I do not remember.

  2. John Kavanagh says:
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    In the context of other spaceflight programs executed by NASA in the last ten years, COTS is a clear success with a great ROI.

    • bwohlgemuth says:
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      Agreed, we now have dual vendors (with disparate launch sites and systems) that can service ISS. Far better when all we had was ‘Space Brick”

      • tutiger87 says:
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        Stop the Shuttle hatred. More capable than any of these ‘Mercury-redux’ rockets we have now. It’ll be years before it’s surpassed.

    • Rocky J says:
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      COTS – which was promoted by Lori Garver. Its amazing she left at the time she did. She was committed, loved and had (has) NASA in her blood. The chaos, sniping and power struggle inside NASA takes its toll.

      • jski says:
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        While in NASA she promoted the SLS and when out of NASA, she criticized it. She also promoted this nonsense about capturing an asteroid.

        —John

        • dogstar29 says:
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          Garver knows perfectly well that SLS and Orion are unaffordable. She spoke in favor of SLS only when she was given no choice by the administration and Congress. Being forced to defend policies she did not personally support may have contributed to her decision to leave. Despite being NASA’s most effective strategist she was also the subject of merciless sniping from the old boy network. It’s tough to see why anyone competent would want to lead NASA.

      • John Thomas says:
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        Don’t forget that this COTS program was started before Garver came to NASA, by then administrator Michael Griffin. Garver was more responsible for the crewed COTS which we will have to wait to see how that turns out.

        • Rocky J says:
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          Yep. Thanks. I’m not a historian of NASA but have been with it since the 80s and always on the robotic SC side of matters. One can’t avoid learning a lot about human spaceflight history but some details are left to those in the thick of that story.

        • savuporo says:
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          Griffin didnt start COTS, even though he signed off on it.

  3. ProfSWhiplash says:
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    Very smooth launch!! Nicely done, Orbital!

    • Rocky J says:
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      I wasn’t aware of this until a moment ago but the Antares 1st stage engines are modified NK-33 Soviet era rocket motors. Aerojet modified them. Pretty amazing! First we grab Germans that launch our first astronaut and design Saturn. Germans backed by a boat load of American engineers & industry, ok. Now we have commercial aerospace adopting Russian rocket engines NK-33, RD-180 (Atlas V). And lets not forget we have been forced to hitchhike to ISS from the steppes of Kazakhstan. Amazing but recall Jobs quoting Picasso, ‘Good artists copy, great artists steal. Flying from Kazakhstan is a bit shameful but taking their better designs is a result of winning the Cold War, otherwise they would be stealing (so to speak) ours. [btw, there is a NASA Imax movie that shows the traditional bon-voyage farewell tradition of cosmonauts as they are followed to the launch vehicle for boarding. It is very cool. I’d love to visit that launch site before it is closed]

      • Todd Austin says:
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        http://rusadventures.com

        Save your nickels, Rocky!

        • Rocky J says:
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          Thanks for the link. I’ll have Bullwinkle launch me in that direction. I’m coming Boris and Natasha!

          Rocky: Bullwinkle, do you know what an A-Bomb is?
          Bullwinkle: Sure, a bomb is what some people call our show.
          Rocky: I don’t think that’s very funny.
          Bullwinkle: Neither do they, apparently.

          Natasha: Boris, how are we going to steal rocket from moose and squirrel?
          Boris: Easy, we are going into the used rocket business.
          Natasha: On purpose?

  4. Anonymous says:
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    Let’s hope that any skeptical member(s) of Congress who watched this launch now realize that commercial space is the future.

    • Cincy says:
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      Contractors have been involved in the civil space program from the beginning; this flight is no different.

      Congrats to Orbital on a successful launch.

      • John Kavanagh says:
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        This flight is significantly different than the traditional NASA relationship with contractors. Rocketplane failed and NASA cut them loose, instead of financially rewarding them for their costly difficulties. Orbital and SpaceX took significant financial risk yet were given relative freedom with *how* they fulfilled the overall transportation objectives set forth by NASA. Also, unlike VentureStar, for example, Orbital and SpaceX had the confidence of a orbital demand for their services through at least 2020. This is new to NASA, and different.

        • Cincy says:
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          No it isn’t. New Space fan boys may think that they’re blazing new trails with their new Potemkin Village space program, but we now have a program that goes nowhere and does nothing but keep the existing last remaining asset (ISS) viable.

          • hikingmike says:
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            Please elaborate on the Potemkin Village. Also, I’m not sure what percentage of the human space flight budget is going to COTS and CCDev but I think it’s relatively small.

          • jski says:
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            From Merriam-Webster :
            Definition of POTEMKIN VILLAGE
            : an impressive facade or show designed to hide an undesirable fact or condition

            Origin of POTEMKIN VILLAGE
            Grigori Potëmkin, who supposedly built impressive fake villages along a route Catherine the Great was to travel
            First Known Use: 1937

          • hikingmike says:
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            Uh yeah I know. I wanted Cincy to explain how that fits. I don’t see any fake villages. I see research, testing, hardware flying, some interesting progress with part of it paid by the companies themselves even.

          • John Kavanagh says:
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            The success of these commercial partnerships stands on its own and in spite of “goes nowhere” decision paralysis crippling NASA ventures beyond Earth orbit. Given shrinking “discretionary” federal spending, if Washington finally gets its act together with a clear human exploration agenda for NASA, the comparative affordability of Commercial Cargo & Crew will be an enabler for new exploration in an age of austerity.

          • Mader Levap says:
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            You mispelled SLS. Now this is Potemkin Village space program!

  5. Robert Clark says:
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    Congrats, Orbital! Here’s hoping for a successful docking.

    Bob Clark

  6. jski says:
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    To paraphrase Tony Stark: “Those NK-33 engines are fantastic!”

  7. hikingmike says:
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    Well done Orbital Sciences! On a roll recently. Now here’s hoping for a successful rest of the mission for Cygnus!

  8. Sherye Johnson says:
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    This launch looks like the previous launches. Nothing new here to see. Gets kinda boring for those not in the know.