Antares 230 | Cygnus CRS OA-5 (S.S. Alan Poindexter)
Launch Successful
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Launch Window
Oct. 17, 2016, 11:40 p.m. - Oct. 17, 2016, 11:47 p.m.
Oct. 17, 2016, 11:40 p.m. - Oct. 17, 2016, 11:47 p.m.
This is the seventh flight of the Orbital ATK's unmanned resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its sixth flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Orbital ATK named the vehicle after astronaut Alan Poindexter who was the commander of STS-131.
Antares known during early development as Taurus II, is an expendable launch system developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation (now part of Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems after Northrop Grumman acquired Orbital ATK) and the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau to launch the Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA's COTS and CRS programs. Able to launch payloads heavier than 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) into low-Earth orbit, Antares is the largest rocket operated by Orbital ATK. Antares launches from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport and made its inaugural flight on April 21, 2013.
See DetailsCygnus CRS OA-5, also known as Orbital Sciences CRS Flight 5, was the seventh planned flight of the Orbital Sciences' unmanned resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its sixth flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Orbital and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) program, Orbital designed and built Antares, a medium-class launch vehicle; Cygnus, an advanced maneuvering spacecraft; and a Pressurized Cargo Module which is provided by Orbital's industrial partner Thales Alenia Space. The Cygnus spacecraft for this mission is named the S.S. Alan Poindexter in honor to astronaut Alan G. Poindexter, a deceased space shuttle commander. Poindexter was selected in the 1998 NASA Group (G17) and went into orbit aboard Space Shuttle missions STS-122 and STS-131.
Cygnus Enhanced DetailsNorthrup Grumman Space Systems designs, builds and delivers space, defence and aviation-related systems to customers around the world. They aquired Orbital ATK in 2018 along with its launchers and ongoing missions.
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