Orb-1 Launch Rescheduled
Orbital to Proceed With Antares Launch Tomorrow
“Following a comprehensive review of data related to the radiation environment in space, further reviews and modeling of the rocket’s avionics systems, and the forecast for favorable terrestrial weather conditions at the Wallops Island launch facility, the Antares launch team has decided to proceed forward with a launch attempt of the Orbital-1 CRS mission to the International Space Station tomorrow, January 9.”
Orb-1 Launch for Jan 8 Has Been Scrubbed
“Early this morning, Orbital Sciences Corp. decided to scrub today’s launch attempt of the Antares rocket and the Cygnus cargo spacecraft on the company’s first resupply mission to the International Space Station due to an unusually high level of space radiation that exceeded constraints imposed on Antares.”
First cold temperatures now radiation. I can only hope Orbital-built satellites, like Thaicom 6, are more resilient than its rockets?
This is only the rocket’s 3rd launch and the 2nd for the Cygnus payload. It is normal practice not to take unnecessary risks when launching a new vehicle.
There was zero harm in delaying the launch, especially given the Sun’s recent CME aimed toward Earth. Delaying the launch says absolutely nothing about how resilient their rockets or satellites are.