New Antares Rocket Test Launch Successful

On sunny Sunday, April 21, the first Antares rocket test launch was successful. Lift-off took place at 5:00 p.m. (EDT) from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) located at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia, followed by payload separation approximately 10 minutes later and mission completion at about 18 minutes after launch.

It represented the crucial step towards completing the development of Orbital Sciences Corporation new launch vehicle and preparing for the demonstration of cargo transportation to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. Antares is being developed under a Space Act Agreement with NASA, which has helped fund the development of Antares and its cargo carrying spacecraft Cygnus.

"While I recognize that this is the first step toward demonstrating Orbital's ability to fly cargo to the ISS, it is a major one. Having a safe, reliable, and cost effective cargo resupply capability is critical to the full and productive utilization of the ISS. I look forward to the next demonstration flight, at which time the Cygnus space module will travel to the ISS for the first time," commented US senator Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) on the launch.

Following a successful demonstration mission to the ISS of Orbital's complete system in mid-2013, including the launch of the first Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft, Orbital will begin regular operational cargo delivery missions to the Space Station under its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. The $1.9 billion CRS contract calls for the delivery of up to 20,000 kilograms of essential supplies to the ISS over eight separate missions from 2013 to 2016.