Orbital’s Antares Rocket Rolled Out to the Pad for Launch to the ISS
Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
This morning, Orbital Sciences Corporation’s (NYSE: ORB) Antares crew rolled the rocket out to launch pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. Orbital’s operations team expects that they will erect the rocket to a vertical position by late morning.
In parallel to the roll-out operation at Wallops, NASA is continuing to work on the cooling loop issue aboard the International Space Station (ISS). We do not yet have a “go/no go” decision for the launch on December 19. The roll-out operation preserves that option for NASA in the event they are able to develop a plan that will allow the Cygnus spacecraft to rendezvous and berth with the ISS on December 22.
Other launch and rendezvous/berthing date scenarios are also being considered. We expect NASA to provide additional guidance on the launch schedule either later today or tomorrow. Please visit Orbital’s ORB-1 mission page for further updates.
Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
About Orbital
Orbital develops and manufactures small- and medium-class rockets and space systems for commercial, military and civil government customers. The company’s primary products are satellites and launch vehicles, including low-Earth orbit, geosynchronous-Earth orbit and planetary spacecraft for communications, remote sensing, scientific and defense missions; human-rated space systems for Earth-orbit, lunar and other missions; ground- and air-launched rockets that deliver satellites into orbit; and missile defense systems that are used as interceptor and target vehicles. Orbital also provides satellite subsystems and space-related technical services to government agencies and laboratories. More information about Orbital can be found at http://www.orbital.com. Follow the company on Twitter @OrbitalSciences.
