Форум Новости Космонавтики

ЦитироватьШустро однако, они собрались запустить демку в конце 2010... Я так понял у SpaceX с этим дела хуже?
 P.S. Я действительно не удивлюсь если МКС после завершения срока службы продадут или подарят. При позитивном сценарии интересы Земли перемещаются в сторону освоения Луны и Марса, на МКС просто становится по большей части нечего делать, а вот независимым компаниям наверное собственный опыт будет очень интересен (выросли веь до запуска собственных ракет - дорастут и до этого). А государство в качестве бонуса получит возможность слетать на станцию и попроводить там эксперименты тогда, когда это действительно нужно.

ЦитироватьШустро однако, они собрались запустить демку в конце 2010... Я так понял у SpaceX с этим дела хуже?

Цитировать

ЦитироватьШустро однако, они собрались запустить демку в конце 2010... Я так понял у SpaceX с этим дела хуже?

SpaceX продвинулся дальше Orbital. Dragon уже сделан в железе. Orbital, видимо пытаясь нагнать упущеное, решил распараллелить работу и подключил подрядчиков, в т.ч. иностранных.
Поэтому, скорее всего, Cygnus будет стоить дороже Dragona-a

ЦитироватьА использование зарубежных (да и своих тоже) подрядчиков на этапах проектирования значительно усложняет процесс соглассования конструкции корабля Cygnus.

Цитироватьсложилась совершенно нездоровая сеть подрядчиков с безумными ценами на все.

ЦитироватьDragon уже сделан в железе

ЦитироватьЦыгнус - это разработка самого Орбатала, там нет никаких подрядчиков, кроме поставщиков компонент.

ЦитироватьПочему не летим? Хотим именно на Фальконе, который упорно не пашет?

ЦитироватьКонечно же Orbital на рынке с 1982, а SpaceX всего лишь с 2002, но ИМХО, у SpaceX менеджмент лучше поставлен и цели более четко обозначенны. Пока у них мало результативных запусков, но то что они за 7 лет смогли развиться и стать конкурентом крупной компании - это плюс в пользу Dragon-a. А использование зарубежных (да и своих тоже) подрядчиков на этапах проектирования значительно усложняет процесс соглассования конструкции корабля Cygnus. Разработав техническую документацию, они наверняка смогут наверстать упущенное. В общем сложно сказать что да как. У них на сайте всего лишь макет и видео какое-то некачественное  :D

ЦитироватьДорогой Walker. Количество результативных пусков компании SpaceX пока равно нулю. Нуль это не мало, а бесконечно мало.
Крайняя попытка запустить Razaksat закончилась сдвигом вправо на три месяца. Причём проблема выяснилась после доставки ракеты и спутника на СК. Если это пример хорошей работы менеджмента, то нам с Вами не о чем дальше разговаривать.

ЦитироватьТеперь по Cygnus. Вы проигнорировали целую тему по COTS в которой были приведены данные по контрактной стоимости и сравнительным техническим характеристикам этих проектов. Вместо этого Вы излагаете своё ИМХО.
Что Вы хотите сравнить? Технические данные? Так начинайте если Вы завели новую тему.
Стоимость? Приведите данные по стоимости. Они опубликованы.
Менеджмент? Я свою точку зрения изложил, нравится она Вам или нет.

ЦитироватьBeneski said a crew variant of Orbital's Cygnus pressurized cargo module capable of carrying three or four astronauts, along with a human-rated version of Taurus 2, could be developed at a cost of  $2 billion to $3 billion.

"There are those companies who think it can be done more quickly and more cheaply than we do," Beneski said. "On the other hand, there are participants in the industry that are a little more wedded to the current way of doing things. We're somewhere in the middle."

ЦитироватьЯпонские технологии будут использованы космической техникой США
15:21 22/10/2009

ТОКИО, 22 окт - РИА Новости, Ксения Нака. Японский производитель электроники Mitsubishi Electric Corp., заключил первый в истории страны контракт на поставку оборудования для американских грузовых космических кораблей Сигнус (Cygnus), об этом в четверг сообщило руководство компании в официальном заявлении.

Американская компания Orbital Sciences Corporation, работающая по заказу американского космического агентства NASA над созданием нового грузового космического корабля, заключила контракт на 66 миллионов долларов с Mitsubishi Electric на поставку оборудования связи. Эта техника необходима для плавного приближения корабля к Международной космической станции перед стыковкой. Скорость ММКС составляет 28 тысяч километров в час или 8 километров в секунду.

Японские технологии участвовуют в космических проектах США первый раз.

Mitsubishi Electric разработала эту систему связи для первого японского космического грузового корабля HTV под заказ от Японского космического агентства (JAXA). Первый японский грузовой космический корабль совершил успешную стыковку с ММКС 18 сентября этого года.

Грузовые корабли Сигнус должны заменить "Шаттлы" после окончания срока их эксплуатации в следующем году.

ЦитироватьЦифры, более-менее близкие к реальным... :wink:

ЦитироватьCygnus update
« on: Today at 05:50 AM »
   
A quick status on Cygnus.

Passed ISS Phase II safety review.

Wrapped up the CDR series (which began Nov 2009).

First Pressurized Cargo Module assembly underway in Torino - basic welded structure completed.

Will provide pictures as I get them.

We plan to have a full-scale mockup of a Cygnus spacecraft (Service Module plus a Pressurized Cargo Module) at the National Space Symposium at the Broadmore in Colorado Springs which starts Moday April 12 (by the way, we're sponsoring the opening fireworks...)

If you happen to be at the NSS, you can't miss it: it will be by the lake, to the right of the bridge that crosses the lake.

ЦитироватьCygnus Advanced Maneuvering Spacecraft

Cargo Delivery Spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS)

The Cygnus advanced maneuvering spacecraft is being developed by Orbital to demonstrate cargo delivery services under a NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement. In addition to the COTS development and demonstration program, Orbital will utilize the Cygnus to perform the ISS resupply fights under the Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) contract. This NASA contract authorizes eight missions between 2011 and 2015 carrying approximately 20,000 kg of cargo to the ISS as well as disposal of ISS waste.
The Cygnus system is a low-risk design incorporating elements drawn from Orbital and its partners' existing, fight-proven spacecraft technologies. Cygnus consists of a common service module and a pressurized cargo module. Cygnus will carry crew supplies, spares and scientifc experiments to the ISS.
The service module incorporates avionics systems from our Dawn interplanetary spacecraft plus propulsion and power system from Orbital's fight-proven STAR GEO communications satellites.
The pressurized cargo module is based the on the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), developed by Thales Alenia Space for NASA.

Specifcations

Service Module

Heritage:  STAR Bus, LEO Star

Gross Mass:  1,700 kg

Power Generation:  2 fxed wing solar arrays, ZTJ Gallium Arsenide cells

Power Output:  3.5 kW (sun-pointed)

Propellant:  Dual-mode N2H4/MON-3 or N2H4

Pressurized Cargo Module

Heritage:  Multi-Purpose Logistics Module

Gross Mass:  3,500 kg

Total Payload Mass:  2,000 kg (standard), 2,700 kg (enhanced)

Pressurized Volume:  18.7 m3

Berthing at ISS:  Node 2 Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM)

Mission Partners:

Orbital Sciences Corporation
Prime contractor; engineering and development; Cygnus service module and mission operations

Thales Alenia Space
Pressurized cargo module

Draper Laboratory
Guidance, navigation and fault tolerant computer suppor t

SAIC
Mission assurance

Odyssey Space Research
Visiting vehicle requirements support

SAS
Software Independent Verifcation and Validation (IV&V), engineering support

Cimarron
Mission Control Center - Houston (MCC-H) gateway developer

ЦитироватьMajor Software Integration Milestone Completed, PCM Production in Full Gear[/size].

September 2010.

Over the course of three weeks in August and early September, the NASA/Orbital Joint Avionics Test #2 (JT2) was held at the NASA Station Development and Integration Laboratory (SDIL) near Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. This early integration test of the International Space Station (ISS) and Cygnus flight software involved personnel from NASA, Orbital, Boeing and Mitsubishi Electric Company, and Orbital's processor-in-the-loop testbed (pictured below left).

The purpose of the test was to ensure that Cygnus and ISS flight software were capable of communicating via both berthed and proximity communications system links. The primary objective of the test was to demonstrate basic command and telemetry data routing between the ISS and Cygnus flight software. A number of secondary objectives were included as well.

During the course of the test, Orbital engineers were able to fully demonstrate 16 out of the 21 design verification objectives required to satisfy NASA requirements. This was a remarkable accomplishment given that this was the first time the NASA, JAXA, and Orbital hardware and software had been physically integrated into a working system. Orbital will return to the SDIL in November 2010 with final integration testing slated for March 2011.

Meanwhile, at Thales/Alenia Space in Turino Italy, production of the Pressurized Cargo Modules (PCM) continues at a robust pace as evidenced by the image below right of two PCMs on the production floor. Structure welding on the last standard configuration PCM was completed in late September. Delivery of the first PCM to Orbital is currently planned for Q1 2011.

ЦитироватьFri, 22 October, 2010
Orbital Warns Investors Prolonged U.S. Budget Battle Will Harm 2011 Earnings[/size]
By Peter B. de Selding

    PARIS — Satellite and launch-vehicle manufacturer Orbital Sciences Corp. on Oct. 21 reported double-digit increases in revenue, operating income and net profit but said its 2011 financial performance could drop by 6 percent to 8 percent from expected levels if the U.S. government does not conclude a final 2011 budget before spring.

    The Dulles, Va.-based company said its biggest ongoing investment — development of the Taurus 2 medium-lift rocket and the Cygnus cargo vehicle it will launch to the international space station — has encountered more delays. Its inaugural launch from Wallops Island, Va., is now set for between July and September.

    Whether that flight serves only to demonstrate Taurus 2's abilities or also carries the Cygnus freighter will depend on whether the U.S. Congress appropriates the money for a rocket-only flight when it finally enacts NASA's budget for 2011. If that money, which would come out of the additional $300 million NASA has requested for its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, is forthcoming, a successful Taurus 2-only demonstration could be followed, about three months later, with a Taurus 2 Cygnus launch to the space station.

ЦитироватьOrbital Opens Mission Operations Center for NASA's Commerical Cargo Services Program.

-- Control Center for International Space Station Cargo Resupply Missions Now Fully Functional at Company's Dulles, Virginia Facilities --

-- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden On Hand for Opening Ceremony --

Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that it held a formal dedication ceremony earlier today to mark the completion of a new facility that will serve as the Mission Operations Center (MOC) for the company's cargo logistics missions to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA that begin in 2011. The ribbon-cutting event was attended by NASA's Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr. and several other senior representatives of the space agency.

"After nearly three years of developing the Taurus II rocket and the Cygnus spacecraft, we are less than a year away from our first scheduled launch to the ISS," said Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The Mission Operations Center dedicated to the COTS and CRS programs is a critical element in our overall system architecture, providing us with robust command and control systems for the upcoming missions, as well as providing direct connectivity capabilities with our Houston-based customers at NASA's Johnson Space Center."

While at Orbital's Dulles, VA facilities, the NASA delegation viewed a full-scale mock-up of the Cygnus spacecraft, which will carry essential cargo to the ISS following its launch aboard Orbital's Taurus II rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility in Eastern Virginia. In addition, Administrator Bolden and the other NASA officials toured Orbital's Mission Control Complex, which includes three additional MOCs that support the company's extensive manifest of other satellite and launch vehicle missions. The delegation also visited Orbital's satellite manufacturing facility, at which four NASA scientific satellites – Glory, NuSTAR, OCO-2 and GEMS – are in various stages of design, production and testing by the company's technical operations team.

COTS and CRS Overview

Under a 2008 cooperative research and development agreement with NASA in its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, Orbital is developing a new autonomous spacecraft and related launch vehicle and ground infrastructure for the delivery of cargo and supplies to the ISS. The COTS program encompasses the full-scale development and flight demonstration of a commercial cargo delivery system that consists of a Taurus II medium-class space launch vehicle, a Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft, and ground-based command and control systems.

With the award of the $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract in late 2008, NASA selected Orbital to carry out eight cargo logistics missions to the ISS from 2011 to 2015. For NASA, CRS will provide an automated cargo delivery service, produced and operated in the United States, for ISS logistics support. The new system will complement Russian, European and Japanese ISS cargo vehicles.

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 exploration 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 U.S. Government agencies and laboratories. More information about Orbital can be found at www.orbital.com

Note to Editors: High-resolution photographs of the dedication ceremony and the COTS/CRS Mission Operations Center are available on Orbital's web site at: www.orbital.com/images/High/Dulles_MOC%2007_high.jpg

ЦитироватьWe just held a cargo loading exercise for the PCM in Torino.  I don't know which crew members supported that, I'll report as soon as I find out.  Here are two pictures of the inside of the loaded PCM and a team picture that also shows the "sting" used to carry the load items inside the PCM for stowage.

Let's just hope the Longshoremen's Union doesn't find out we're loading cargo without a union card; we may have a grievance on our hands...

(http://s08.radikal.ru/i181/1012/fa/19b934a359d9.jpg)
(http://s014.radikal.ru/i329/1012/f6/3656fabb39a7.jpg)

ЦитироватьNASA  Deputy Administrator Lori Garver Visits Orbital Dulles, Virginia  Facility[/size]

January 2011.

NASA  Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and Jim  Kohlenberger, Chief of Staff of the White House Office of Science and  Technology Policy recently visited Orbital - Dulles, Virginia  campus. After a brief overview of the company and its programs, Ms. Garver, Mr.  Kohlenberger and other NASA guests took a tour of Orbital mission operations center  where it will direct its commercial logistics missions to deliver supplies to  the International Space Station. The  group also toured the company satellite manufacturing facility where they viewed  a mock-up of the Cygnus spacecraft which will carry supplies to the Space  Station, as well as work in progress on the first Cygnus spacecraft. In addition, the guests were briefed on  Orbital manufacturing and test facilities and viewed several satellites in  production - both NASA scientific spacecraft and commercial communications  satellites.

ЦитироватьUpdated Taurus II & COTS/CRS Development Flight Milestones[/size]
February 2011

Orbital has released an updated milestones chart to the reflect the most current projections for the integration, testing and operations of its Taurus II and Cygnus spacecraft for the COTS and CRS programs.

Цитировать...вторая получается пролетит с треском и грохотом?

ЦитироватьОдна из них в конечном итоге первой запустит полноценную миссию и получит контракт.

ЦитироватьThales Alenia Space Espa

ЦитироватьДля полноты зоопарка Орбиталу осталось прикупить для этой разработки ещё что-нибудь в Японии. :)

ЦитироватьAndrews Space Delivers Cargo Module Power Unit for Orbital's Cygnus Spacecraft[/size]

(http://www.andrews-space.com./images/pages/FlightUnit_1.jpg)

Seattle, WA - May 10, 2011.      Andrews Space (Andrews) announced today that it has successfully delivered the first of four fight-qualified Cargo Module Power Units (CMPUs) that will supply power to payloads aboard Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft.

Andrews was contracted by Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) in September 2010 to deliver three flight-qualified CMPUs, which power mid-deck locker payloads destined for the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Cygnus cargo vehicle.   Under the $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA, Orbital will fly eight missions between 2012 and 2015, delivering 20,000 kilograms of cargo to the ISS.  The recently delivered CMPU will provide up to 150 Watts of 28VDC payload power and will be used on the first CRS mission scheduled for early 2012.

"I

ЦитироватьСсылки со слушаний о прогрессе в COTS/CRS:
http://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/hearings/052611_Gerstenmaier%20Testimony.pdf
http://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/hearings/052611_Chaplain%20Testimony.PDF
http://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/hearings/052611_Shotwell%20Testimony.pdf
http://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/hearings/052611_Culbertson%20Testimony.pdf

http://science.edgeboss.net/wmedia/science/sst2011/052611.wvx

ЦитироватьThales Alenia Space delivers first Cygnus PCM to Orbital Sciences Corporation[/size]
 (http://www.thalesgroup.com/Press_Releases/Markets/Space/2011/Thales_Alenia_Space_delivers_first_Cygnus_PCM_to_Orbital_Sciences_Corporation/)
30 May 2011

New commercial cargo vehicle for the International Space Station preparing for launch in late 2011

Turin, May 30, 2011 – Thales Alenia Space announced that it has delivered to Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) its first Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) developed to transport cargo to the International Space Station. This first PCM will be used for the CygnusTM demonstration mission, under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) research and development initiative with Orbital.

The module was shipped from the Thales Alenia Space plant in Turin, Italy to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, where Orbital will integrate it with the Cygnus service module to produce the complete Cygnus spacecraft. The first mission is currently scheduled for December 2011, using Orbital's Taurus® II launcher.

Following the demonstration flight, Thales Alenia Space will provide Orbital with eight more PCM units to be used for ISS cargo transport, in order to deliver crew supplies, spare parts and scientific experiments to the Station under Orbital's Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) contract with NASA, .

The first PCM will be followed by three more units in "standard" configuration, capable of transporting up to 2,000 kg of cargo each, along with five "enhanced" configuration units, boosting payload capacity to 2,700 kg.

"The delivery of the first Pressurized Cargo Module for commercial space transportation is a major event for Thales Alenia Space," said Luigi Maria Quaglino, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Space Infrastructures & Transportation Business Unit at Thales Alenia Space. "This program is a strong sign of continuity for our long-standing position as a leader in the space infrastructure and transportation sector. In addition, we want to highlight that the PCM delivery also clearly reflects a new trend in the space business, namely the private sector's engagement to fulfill critical services on a commercial basis – a segment in which our company is playing a major role."

The CygnusTM spacecraft comprises a Service Module (SM) built by Orbital, and a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) developed by Thales Alenia Space. Building on 30 years of experience in space infrastructures and transportation systems, the Cygnus PCM developed by Thales Alenia Space calls on the company's skills and expertise developed through previous programs for the International Space Station, such as the MPLM (Multipurpose Logistics Module), built by the company on behalf of the Italian space agency for NASA, and the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) Cargo Carrier, built by Thales Alenia Space for the European Space Agency (ESA). Thales Alenia Space supplies half of the Space Station's pressurized volume, and is also a key player in the Columbus laboratory and prime contractor for Node 2, Node 3 and the Cupola.

ЦитироватьFirst Cargo Module Ships.  Service Module Integration Continues.[/size]
June 2011

    The first Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) for Orbital's COTS demonstration mission completed Qualification and Hardware Acceptance Reviews at Thales/Alenia's facility in Turin Italy.  The PCM and its Ground Support Equipment will now be prepared for shipment from Italy to the Wallops Island Virginia launch site.  Read about the PCM in this press relise:
http://www.thalesgroup.com/Press_Releases/Markets/Space/2011/Thales_Alenia_Space_delivers_first_Cygnus_PCM_to_Orbital_Sciences_Corporation/

    As the PCM makes its way to the launch site, integration and testing of the Cygnus Service Module for the COTS demonstration mission continues in Orbital's Dulles, Virginia Satellite Manufacturing Facility.  The Service Module completed its Open Panel assembly activities and will transition to its Initial Integrated Systems Testing.
    Upon completion of all its testing, the Service Module will be shipped to Wallops Island, where it will be mated to the PCM.  The fully assembled Cygnus spacecraft will then be attached to Orbital's new Taurus II rocket and launched to the International Space Station to demonstrate the delivery of supplies and payload items.  See the Taurus II Microsite for more progress updates.


PCM production in Turin, Italy (Thales/Alenia photo)


View of the interior of the PCM (Thales/Alenia photo)


Cygnus Service Module Integration

Цитировать@jeff_foust Jeff Foust
Frank Culberson, Orbital: now planning Taurus 2 test firing on pad in November, demo launch late December, COTS flight next February.

Цитироватьhttp://twitter.com/#/jeff_foust/status/94077263011778561

Цитировать@jeff_foust Jeff Foust
Frank Culberson, Orbital: now planning Taurus 2 test firing on pad in November, demo launch late December, COTS flight next February.

ЦитироватьPARIS — The inaugural flight of Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Taurus 2 rocket will be delayed by about two months, to December, to allow time for the completion and certification of rocket propellant and pressurization facilities at the vehicle's Wallops Island, Va., launch site, Orbital Chief Executive David W. Thompson said July 21.

Dulles, Va.-based Orbital still intends to demonstrate its space station cargo vehicle on the second Taurus 2 flight about two months after the first successful liftoff, meaning that mission, in which the Cygnus capsule will approach the international space station, will be delayed to February, Thompson said. [/size]

ЦитироватьUpdated Taurus II & COTS/CRS Development & Flight Milestones
July 2011
Orbital has released an updated milestones chart to the reflect the most current projections for the integration, testing and operations of its Taurus II and Cygnus spacecraft for the COTS and CRS programs.



http://www.orbital.com/TaurusII/files/July-Milestone2011.pdf[/size]

ЦитироватьNeptec's TriDAR technology to take off on Orbital's Cygnus Spacecraft[/size]
 
BusinessWire OTTAWA, Ontario

Neptec Design Group, a leader in space, defence and industrial systems and applications, today announced it will provide its TriDAR rendezvous and docking sensors to Orbital Space Science Corp.'s Cygnus Spacecraft capsule, which will be used on the Cargo Resupply Services Program to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). Fresh off three successful test missions with the Space Shuttle, including the historic final flight STS-135, this partnership will see Neptec supply Orbital with 13 TriDAR systems to support Orbital's initial round of resupply flights for the ISS.

"We are thrilled to be a part of this exciting next step of space exploration," said Mike Kearns, Neptec VP for Space Exploration. "With our operations on STS-135 wrapping up, we are proud to say TriDAR exceeded our expectations on its three separate shuttle flights and we are pleased to announce today that the system will be an integral part of the ISS fleet of resupply vehicles."

The TriDAR vision system has been in development for almost 10 years, benefitting from assistance from both the Canadian Space Agency and NASA. A combination of high-precision, near-field triangulation with a long-range Time-of-Flight (LiDAR) system, it provides automated, real-time visual guidance for navigation, rendezvous and docking procedures.

"The TriDAR program is a textbook example of what can be done when government and the private sector work together," said Neptec president and CEO Iain Christie. "This week is bittersweet for all of us involved with the space program as we wrap up the Shuttle era, which has been a central part of our lives. But this announcement shows we are taking our knowledge and experience from that program and continuing to make important contributions to the Space Station and beyond."

About TriDAR

The TriDAR vision system provides real-time visual guidance for navigation, rendezvous and docking procedures. Its inaugural voyage into space was in August 2009 when mounted in the cargo bay of the STS-128 mission. Developed by Neptec with the support of NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, TriDAR has applications beyond rendezvous and docking. With short and long-range sensing capabilities, the system is being developed as a navigation system for lunar rovers, vehicle inspection, and will enable helicopter pilots to land in inhospitable and obscured environments.

About Neptec

Specializing in advanced space, defence and industrial systems and applications, Neptec maintains a reputation of quality and reliability in the design, manufacturing, installation and support of its sensor systems with the Space Shuttle, International Space Station and other major space programs. With new solutions for aerospace, defence and industry, Neptec, a CSA/NASA prime contractor, continues to be a pioneer in the innovative use of mission critical systems and applications. In February, Neptec was awarded the George M. Low prize, NASA's premier honour for quality and performance, marking the first time a non-U.S. company received the award.

www.neptec.com .

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 exploration 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 U.S. Government agencies and laboratories.

www.orbital.com . [/size]

ЦитироватьNext ISS Crew Prepares For Commercial Freighters[/size]

Jul 29, 2011
 
By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL — The first International Space Station crew in the post-shuttle era had an additional stop in its training flow — Space Exploration Technologies' Hawthorne, Calif., facility for familiarization with the company's Dragon cargo freighter.

Two-time shuttle veteran Dan Burbank, 50, and rookie cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov, 39, and Anatoly Ivanishin, 42, are due to launch on Sept. 22 onboard a Russian Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They will join the Expedition 29 crew of NASA astronaut Michael Fossum, 53, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, 47, and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Volkov, 38.

The first of NASA's new commercial cargo ships is expected to make a trial run to the station in December. A successful docking of the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Dragon capsule would clear the way for the company to begin working on its 12-flight, $1.6 billion station cargo resupply missions for NASA in 2012.

Burbank says the crew also received training to handle berthing with NASA's second cargo resupplier, Orbital Sciences Corp., which expects to debut its Cygnus capsule with a docking at the space station in early 2012, possibly before Burbank and his crewmates return to Earth in mid-March. Orbital Sciences holds a second NASA cargo resupply contract worth $1.9 billion for eight Cygnus flights.

"We've got some visiting vehicles that we're hoping for and looking forward to seeing while we're onboard [the] space station, one of which at least — hopefully more — will be the first of the commercial resupply ships," Burbank told reporters July 27.

Both ships will be berthed to the station's Harmony node with the station's robotic arm, a maneuver that is very similar to the docking of Japan's HTV capsules.

"Our operations as far as monitoring the rendezvous, monitoring the vehicles as they come up the R-bar, toward the space station's nadir, or Earth-facing side, and then how we track and capture them ultimately with the space station robotic arm and then mate them to Node 2 — those are essentially the same," Burbank says.

Burbank, who will take over command of the station from Fossum in December, and his crewmates also will be onboard during a major upgrade of the station's avionics software, intended to increase the communications bandwidth as the station shifts into full-time research operations. "Now that assembly is complete, it's time to actually get our return on the investment," Burbank says.[/size]

ЦитироватьCygnus Freighter to Arrive at Wallops on Wednesday[/size]
Posted by Doug Messier
on August 19, 2011, at 1:26 pm
in COTS, Cygnus, NASA, News and Orbital Sciences Corporation

NASA PR — WASHINGTON – NASA's partnership with industry to develop transportation to the International Space Station reaches another milestone on Wednesday, Aug. 24. The cargo module for Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Cygnus spacecraft, which will carry supplies to the station, is scheduled to arrive at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 4 p.m. EDT.

During the next several months, Orbital's engineering team will integrate the PCM with the Cygnus service module that includes the spacecraft's avionics, propulsion and power systems.

The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled for a demonstration flight early next year on an Orbital Taurus II launch vehicle under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services agreement with the company. Cygnus will launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's pad 0A at Wallops.[/size]

ЦитироватьА что там японского?

Цитировать

ЦитироватьА что там японского?

Может форма консервной банки как у HTV?

ЦитироватьThe HTV and Cygnus share several systems in common including the Space Integrated GPS/INS (SIGI), Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system, and the Proximity Link System (PLS).  These systems provided vital guidance and navigation information to the spacecraft.   They worked well during the HTV Flight and their performance reduces program risk for Cygnus.  We congratulate Japan for its success in its first HTV flight!

ЦитироватьА что там японского?

ЦитироватьAugust 24, 2011

Thales Alenia Space... Cygnus Container Crafted + Shipped (Spacecraft)[/size]


Artist rendering of Cygnus spacecraft,
courtesy of Orbital Sciences...
[SatNews] One of the most important inclusions for Cygnus has now shipped...

Thales Alenia Space has shipped its first Pressurized Cargo Module, designed to transport cargo to the International Space Station, to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The PCM, developed on behalf of Cygnus prime contractor Orbital Sciences Corporation, was carried by an Antonov An-24 cargo plane. At Wallops, Orbital will integrate the PCM with the Service Module (including the avionics, propulsion subsystem and power supply) to produce the complete Cygnus spacecraft. This vehicle will fly a demonstration mission in early 2012, using Orbital's Taurus II launcher, under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement.

Following the demonstration flight, within the scope of the CRS (Commercial Resupply Service) contract signed by Orbital and NASA, Thales Alenia Space will provide Orbital with eight more pressurized modules for cargo missions to the International Space Station, including crew supplies, spare parts and scientific experiments. The first PCM will be followed by three more units in "standard" configuration, capable of transporting up to 2,000 kg of cargo each, along with five "enhanced" configuration units, boosting payload capacity to 2,700 kg.

The Cygnus™ spacecraft comprises a Service Module (SM) built by Orbital, and a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) developed by Thales Alenia Space. Building on 30 years of experience in space infrastructures and transportation systems, the Cygnus PCM developed by Thales Alenia Space calls on the company's skills and expertise developed through previous programs for the International Space Station, such as the MPLM (Multipurpose Logistics Module), built by the company on behalf of the Italian space agency for NASA, and the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) Cargo Carrier, built by Thales Alenia Space for the European Space Agency (ESA).[/size]

ЦитироватьThales Alenia Space's Cygnus PCM shipped to United States[/size]

25 August 2011

Thales Alenia Space announced today that it has shipped  its first Pressurized Cargo Module, designed to transport cargo to the International Space Station, to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The PCM, developed on behalf of Cygnus prime contractor Orbital Sciences Corporation, was carried by an Antonov An-24 cargo plane.

At Wallops, Orbital will integrate the PCM with the Service Module (including the avionics, propulsion subsystem and power supply) to produce the complete Cygnus spacecraft. This vehicle will fly a demonstration mission in early 2012, using Orbital's Taurus II launcher, under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement.

Following the demonstration flight, within the scope of the CRS (Commercial Resupply Service) contract signed by Orbital and NASA, Thales Alenia Space will provide Orbital with eight more pressurized modules for cargo missions to the International Space Station, including crew supplies, spare parts and scientific experiments.

The first PCM will be followed by three more units in "standard" configuration, capable of transporting up to 2,000 kg of cargo each, along with five "enhanced" configuration units, boosting payload capacity to 2,700 kg.

The CygnusTM spacecraft comprises a Service Module (SM) built by Orbital, and a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) developed by Thales Alenia Space. Building on 30 years of experience in space infrastructures and transportation systems, the Cygnus PCM developed by Thales Alenia Space calls on the company's skills and expertise developed through previous programs for the International Space Station, such as the MPLM (Multipurpose Logistics Module), built by the company on behalf of the Italian space agency for NASA, and the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) Cargo Carrier, built by Thales Alenia Space for the European Space Agency (ESA).

Thales Alenia Space is a major contributor to the International Space Station, as a key player in the Columbus laboratory and prime contractor for Node 2, Node 3 and the Cupola.[/size]

ЦитироватьCygnus Space Station Cargo Carrier Arrives At NASA Wallops[/size]

    Source: Wallops Flight Facility
    Posted Thursday, August 25, 2011



NASA's work to help develop the next generation of commercial space transportation systems reached another significant achievement yesterday with the arrival at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia of the Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Module, Orbital Science Corp.'s spacecraft to carry supplies to the International Space Station.

"This is one more important step in our partnership with U.S. private industry to build safe, reliable and cost effective cargo transportation systems," said Philip McAlister, acting director of commercial spaceflight development at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We are pleased that Orbital has made this accomplishment and look forward to the company flying the Cygnus spacecraft in 2012."

During the next several months, Orbital's engineering team will integrate the pressurized module with the Cygnus service module that includes the spacecraft's avionics, propulsion and power systems.

The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled for a demonstration flight from Wallops early next year on an Orbital Taurus II launch vehicle under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services agreement with the company[/size].

ЦитироватьFirst Pressurized Cargo Module Arrives at Wallops[/size]
      August 2011
      Ferried aboard an Antonov An-26 aircraft, a cargo container containing the first Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) arrived at the Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia on Thursday, August 24.  The PCM was transported to NASA's H-100 payload processing facility where it will be mated to the Cygnus service module. Together, the PCM and the service module will form the first operational Cygnus that will be launched to the International Space Station to carry out a demonstration mission under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) joint NASA and Orbital research and development program.  The COTS demonstration mission is currently scheduled for early 2012.  Designed to carry approximately 2,000 kg of cargo, the PCM was manufactured by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy.  Integration and testing of the service module continues at Orbital's Satellite Manufacturing Facility in Dulles, Virginia.[/size]


Container Containing the first Cygnus PCM arrives at Wallops (NASA photo)


After the container was offloaded, it was transported to NASA's H-100 payload processing facility (NASA photo)


PCM prior to shipment from the Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin (Thales Alenia photo)

ЦитироватьВ начале 2012 года к МКС отправится американский коммерческий грузовик[/size]
(10:54) 29.08.2011

Коммерческий американский космический подрядчик Orbital Sciences Corp сегодня сообщил, что созданный компанией грузовой модуль Cygnus был доставлен к месту старта в штате Вирджиния. В феврале будущего года Cygnus станет первым коммерческим американским аппаратом, который полетит на МКС. "Это еще один важный шаг в рамках программы партнерства между НАСА с частной отраслью по созданию надежных, эффективных и недорогих транспортных космических систем", - говорит Филип Макалистер, управляющий директор программы коммерческих полетов в НАСА.

Компания Orbital Sciences сейчас работает над тремя основными проектами: ракета-носитель Taurus 2, предназначенная для грузовиков Cygnus, собственно грузовой модуль Cygnus и стартовая площадка для этих аппаратов, которая будет отвечать требованиям НАСА и иметь все необходимые лицензии.

Модуль Cygnus имеет два основных составляющих компонента: цилиндрический вакуумный грузовой модуль, способный доставлять на станцию до 2 тонн грузов, а также сервисный модуль, где находятся солнечные батареи и топливная система. Первая часть была доставлена для Orbital Sciences из Италии, где над ним работала компания Thales Alenia Space.

Около месяца назад гендиректор Orbital Sciences Девид Томпсон сообщил, что дебютный полет ракеты Taurus 2 откладывается на два месяца - до декабря, что позволит компании завершить испытания и полностью пройти сертификацию. Первым запуском Taurus 2 будет руководить НАСА. До декабря Orbital Sciences также предстоит полностью завершить строительство стартового комплекса.[/size]

ЦитироватьOrbital Receives FAA Commercial Space Launch License for Taurus II COTS Demonstration Mission[/size]
-- Company Secures Required Authorization to Conduct Launch After Extensive Technical and Management Review --

(Dulles, VA 31 August 2011) -- Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB), one of the world's leading space technology companies, today announced that it received a Commercial Space Transportation Launch License from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program demonstration mission in early 2012. An expanded license covering the test flight of the company's Taurus® II rocket in late 2011 is expected to be granted in the near future.

To secure the license, Orbital was required to submit extensive technical and program management data to the FAA about its Taurus II rocket and Cygnus™ spacecraft to ensure that all necessary operational requirements and safety precautions are met. Among the many items reviewed by the FAA were the rocket's planned trajectory, ground tracking procedures, onboard safety and flight termination systems, and the experience and training of the launch operations team.

"We are very pleased to have been granted the Commercial Space Transportation Launch License by the FAA well in advance of our scheduled launch date in early 2012," said Mr. Brent Collins, Orbital's Senior Vice President and Taurus II Program Manager. "While we are very knowledgeable of the FAA licensing process because of our extensive experience with Pegasus and Taurus space launch vehicles, securing the FAA's approval for a new rocket system is always challenging because of the rigor of their oversight. We feel this is a great vote of confidence in our launch vehicle design, the robustness of its subsystems, the thoroughness of our processes, and the training and operational experience of our launch team."

For the COTS demonstration mission, Orbital will launch a Taurus II rocket carrying an operational Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft that will autonomously rendezvous with and operate in close proximity to the International Space Station (ISS) until it is grappled with a robotic arm and berthed to the Station. For the earlier Taurus II test flight, an instrumented Cygnus simulator will be onboard to accurately characterize the launch environment[/size]

ЦитироватьДо чего дошел прогресс, ракета почти одноступенчатая.

Цитировать4,5 т на LEO одним НК-33? Гложут меня смутные сомнения. :roll:

ЦитироватьUpdated Taurus II & COTS/CRS Development & Flight   Milestones[/size]

October 2011

Orbital has released an updated   milestones chart to the reflect the most current projections for the   integration, testing and operations of its Taurus II and Cygnus spacecraft   for the COTS and CRS programs.[/size]



The Latest on Taurus II and Cygnus[/size]

October 2011

Here are the latest scenes from our operations at Wallops Island launch site:



The first pressurized cargo module (PCM) is being prepped for the COTS demonstration flight.  In addition, other PCMs, for the first three CRS missions are well along at the Thales Alenia manufacturing plant in Italy.


The first Cygnus spacecraft is about to enter system-level environmental testing, following its development and integration process.

http://www.orbital.com/TaurusII/images/Oct2011/CRS-1%20&%202.JPG
The second, third and fourth Cygnus spacecraft for upcoming CRS missions are also underway at the Dulles plant.[/size]

ЦитироватьTaurus II Rocket and Cygnus Spacecraft Programs Pass Development Milestones[/size]

Taurus II Engine Acceptance Test Successful; Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Module Delivered to Wallops Launch Site in Virginia

The development of Orbital's new Taurus II medium-class launch vehicle and Cygnus spacecraft, which will carry cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) under a Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA, achieved two important milestones recently. On September 26, Orbital, Aerojet and the NASA Stennis Space Center successfully conducted an acceptance hot fire test of one of the two AJ26 flight engines that will power the first stage of Taurus II on its inaugural mission.
The test gauged the engine's performance to ensure its operation during an actual launch. The engine was recently shipped to the Wallops Flight Facility launch site in Virginia where it will be integrated with the Taurus II first-stage core as a main engine assembly. Meanwhile, the two AJ26 engines that will be used for a first-stage hot fire test have been integrated with the thrust frame structure, which will then be mated to the first-stage core. This process is taking place in the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) at Wallops. The stage-one hot fire test will occur at the Taurus II Launch Pad 0A.
In late August, the first Cygnus spacecraft Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) arrived at the Wallops Flight Facility. The PCM was transported to NASA's H-100 payload processing facility where it will be mated to the Cygnus service module. Together, the PCM and the service module will form the first operational Cygnus that will be launched to the ISS to carry out a demonstration mission under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) joint NASA and Orbital research and development program. Designed to carry up to 2,700 kg of cargo, the PCM was manufactured by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. Integration and testing of the service module continues at Orbital's Satellite Manufacturing Facility in Dulles, Virginia. The COTS demonstration mission to the ISS is currently scheduled for the second quarter of 2012.[/size]

ЦитироватьMeanwhile, Orbital Sciences is preparing for a late February/early March flight test of the Taurus II/Cygnus rocket and cargo carrier from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, says Frank Culbertson, Orbital's senior vice president and deputy general manager.

Orbital's commercial cargo carrier could be ready for a rendezvous and berthing demonstration flight as soon as late April, Culbertson says.[/size]

ЦитироватьOrbital debuts image of enhanced #Cygnus to carry 2,700 Kg. of cargo to #ISS for #NASA. To fly on 4th CRS mission. pic.twitter.com/d42MlD2W[/size]

(http://s017.radikal.ru/i443/1111/d5/c342b8cec333.jpg)

ЦитироватьATK Awarded $20 Million UltraFlex™ Solar Array Contract from Orbital[/size]
The ATK Arrays Will Provide Solar Power for Orbital's Enhanced Cygnus™ Spacecraft
 
ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ATK (NYSE: ATK) was awarded a $20 million contract by Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) to provide its UltraFlex™ solar arrays to power Orbital's enhanced Cygnus™ cargo logistics space vehicle, which is being utilized under NASA's Commercial Resupply System contract.

 The disk-shaped UltraFlex solar arrays measure more than 11 feet in diameter and are made of ultra-lightweight materials that provide high strength and stiffness as well as compact stowage volume. With the same power but at a significantly reduced mass from the original arrays, the UltraFlex solar arrays will contribute to an overall increased payload capability of the enhanced Cygnus vehicle to provide resupply services to the International Space Station.  "Providing performance and weight savings is critical for spacecraft providers," said David Shanahan, vice president and general manager, ATK Space Structures & Components. "UltraFlex solar arrays provide the highest power for the lowest mass, enabling larger payloads and ensuring the success of more taxing missions."  

Smaller 6-foot diameter versions of these disk-shaped solar arrays were used to power NASA's Phoenix Lander, which had its mission extended three times due in part to the exceptional performance of the solar arrays. Larger UltraFlex solar arrays—measuring nearly 20 feet in diameter—will be deployed on NASA's Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle.    

The enhanced Cygnus spacecraft incorporates a larger pressurized cargo module that can carry up to 2700 kg of cargo to the ISS.  The spacecraft's pressurized cargo module will carry crew supplies, spares and scientific experiments.

ATK is an aerospace, defense, and commercial products company with operations in 22 states, Puerto Rico, and internationally, and revenues of approximately $4.8 billion. News and information can be found on the Internet at www.atk.com . [/size]

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ЦитироватьHmm, what happened to the Dutch Space deal? Edit: looks as if the first three will be the Dutch Space panels, after which they will switch to the lighter ATK panels.

Interesting. So the first three flights (COTS, CRS1, and CRS2) will be "Cygnus PCM" with Castor 30, short PCM, and Dutch solar panels. Then, the following flights will be a "Cygnus PCM+" with Castor 30XL, longer PCM, and ATK Ultraflex panels.

Am I getting that right?

From the announcement is sounds like the ultraflex will only be incorporated on CRS 4, so CRS 3 will probably have the Dutch arrays but with a PCM+ .

Цитироватьbeginning with the fourth mission under Orbital's Cargo Resupply Services agreement

Цитироватьhttp://www.atk.com/capabilities_space/documents/UltraFlex.pdf

ЦитироватьNew Millennium ST8
One development wing, 7 kW size,
plus one 3.2m flight experiment
Successful completion of broad wing-level qualification test
sequence with no electrical or mechanical degradation
Successful completion of GEO mission thermal life cycle testing
(1,650 cycles: -150°C to +100°C)

ЦитироватьCygnus Enhanced Spacecraft to Use Ultraflex Solar Arrays[/size]

November 2011

Orbital has selected lightweight ATK Ultraflex solar arrays to power its enhanced Cygnus cargo logistics module beginning with the fourth mission under Orbital's Cargo Resupply Services agreement with NASA to provide cargo logistics services to the International Space Station.  The enhanced Cygnus variant incorporates a larger pressurized cargo module that can carry up to 2700 kg of crew supplies, spares and scientific experiments to the ISS.  Measuring more than 11 feet in diameter, the Ultraflex arrays will provide the same power as the arrays to be used in the first three Cygnus missions but with significantly reduced mass.

[/size]

Цитироватьскоро все американцы будут чебурашками.
Спейсекс только отщепенец - сам делал...

ЦитироватьКорабль Cygnus к МСК будет запущен весной-летом 2012 года - НАСА[/size]
21:52 21/12/2011

БАЙКОНУР (Казахстан), 21 дек - РИА Новости. Запуск американского коммерческого корабля Cygnus для доставки грузов на Международную космическую станцию запланирован на весну-лето 2012 года, сообщил в среду журналистам заместитель администратора НАСА Уильям Герстенмайер.

Один из коммерческих смежников НАСА - компания Orbital Sciences претендует на контракт с агентством на сумму около 1,9 миллиарда долларов по доставке грузов к МКС. Компания разрабатывает космический корабль Cygnus, который рассматривается как один из "сменщиков" шаттлов. В марте в компании говорили, что выводить Cygnus на орбиту планируется с помощью ракеты Taurus II, ее первый полет планировался на вторую половину 2011 года.

"Корабль Orbital, скорее всего, отправится к МКС в конце весны-начала лета следующего года. Корабль почти собран, но пусковая площадка в Виргинии пока не достроена", - сообщил Герстенмайер.[/size]

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Цитироватьскоро все американцы будут чебурашками.
Спейсекс только отщепенец - сам делал...

А кличку им дадут - "лопух". :D Нет, лучше так: "лопушки".

ЦитироватьКстати, лопушкоообразных извращений уже нет:
(http://www.orbital.com/images/High/Dual_Cygni_vertical_high.JPG)

Цитировать

ЦитироватьКстати, лопушкоообразных извращений уже нет:

Это на стенке нарисовано или видно по аппарату?

ЦитироватьOrbital has selected lightweight ATK Ultraflex solar arrays to power its enhanced Cygnus cargo logistics module beginning with the fourth mission under Orbital's Cargo Resupply Services agreement with NASA to provide cargo logistics services to the International Space Station. The enhanced Cygnus variant incorporates a larger pressurized cargo module that can carry up to 2700 kg of crew supplies, spares and scientific experiments to the ISS. Measuring more than 11 feet in diameter, the Ultraflex arrays will provide the same power as the arrays to be used in the first three Cygnus missions but with significantly reduced mass.

ЦитироватьИХ ещё нет...Александр не могли бы Вы убрать картинку?

ЦитироватьЛопухи появятся в четвёртом пуске.

ЦитироватьНашел картинку возможного "непрофильного" применения Лебедя :P

ЦитироватьP.S. А куда, собственно, ПАО/ДУ делся? Или мы его от Cygnus'a берем? А стыкуемся как?

Цитировать

ЦитироватьНашел картинку возможного "непрофильного" применения Лебедя :P

Ненаучная фантастика. Двупуском? :shock:

P.S. А куда, собственно, ПАО/ДУ делся? Или мы его от Cygnus'a берем? А стыкуемся как?

ЦитироватьНикуда не делся, все там же, где у CST-100 и был

ЦитироватьВозвращаясь к СБ. В орионовском ролике крупным планом показали анимацию раскрытия лопухов. Практически все то же самое, что весной было. Понятно, что между анимашкой и реальностью дистанция большая, но если оно действительно так будет открываться, то, ИМХО, слишком ненадежно.

Апрельский ролик: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmVqVYpdULA

ЦитироватьSmaller scale versions are currently powering NASA's Phoenix Lander that has been on Mars since May 25th. Due in part to the exceptional performance of the solar arrays, the 90-day mission life of the Mars lander has been extended three times. Power from the arrays has produced more power than pre-mission predictions. The additional power has allowed the surface team to extend the amount of operating hours for the science team. ....The two-part test validates the UltraFlex solar array's deployment reliability and acceleration capability — up to 2.7G's — as needed by NASA's Orion lunar mission.

ЦитироватьIntegration and Testing of Cygnus Service Modules[/size]
January 2012

Integration and testing of Cygnus spacecraft service modules continues at our Dulles, VA Satellite Manufacturing Facility (SMF).  The service module on the left in the photo below will be used for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration flight to the International Space Station (ISS) later this year.  The service module on the right will carry out the first of eight cargo resupply missions under Orbital's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA, also scheduled for later this year.  A third Cygnus service module (not shown) is also undergoing integration in a separate clean room facility in the facility.

The two service modules shown below are being integrated and assembled in a class 100,000 clean room prior to the beginning of environmental testing, the last major phase of the spacecraft development and testing prior to shipment to the Wallops Island, VA launch site, where it will be integrated with the Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) that was delivered in 2011.  The Cygnus service module on the left will begin its thermal vacuum testing in February, followed by mechanical environmental tests one month later.  The banner seen on the wall above the Cygnus service modules is a full-scale depiction of the complete Cygnus system with its solar arrays deployed.[/size]

ЦитироватьПро УльтраФлекс пишут много хорошего.  :roll:
СБ УльтраФлекс уже испытаны на Марсе.

ЦитироватьМне не понятно, чем эта конструкция лучше, в плане надежности, старой доброй пружинной раскладушки.

ЦитироватьА когда должен лететь к МКС Лебедь? Тоже чтото не вижу в графике...

ЦитироватьА когда должен лететь к МКС Лебедь?

ЦитироватьНаверно это он про тестовый полет Antares :roll:

ЦитироватьНет, именно про первый полет "Лебедя". Это было сказано 21 декабря 2011 года на пресс-конференции на Байконуре после запуска "Союза ТМА-03М". При этом он отметил, что есть задержки с готовностью стартового комплекса. Но, еще раз повторяю, это было сказано за месяц до появления новости на Spacenews.

ЦитироватьЯ просто пытаюсь соотнести его слова и октябрьский график Орбитала :( Орбитальцы что, в конце года взяли на себя повышенные обязательства пустить корабль к праздничному дню американского флага?

ЦитироватьГерстенмайер в декабре говорил про полет, который в октябрьском графике обозначен COTS Demonstration Mission. Как раз, "конец весны - начало лета". А теперь в конце весны, вместо зимы, наверное, будет Antares Test Flight.

ЦитироватьThree quick updates on Cygnus:

The spacecraft completed its Electromagnetic compatibility tests this weeked.  These tests included self-interference, interference *to* ISS systems, and interference *from* ISS emissions.  It passed, as expected.

The COTS Demo flight Service Module is being prepped for TVAC (see picture).

The ORB-3 (third CRS operational flight) Service Module structure is at Wallops for a fit check with the COTS Demo Pressurized cargo Module later this week.[/size]

ЦитироватьFebruary 2012

Today, Orbital updated its 2012 COTS and CRS operational schedules.  Gone is our colorful Development and Flight Milestones chart, now that we're in the homestretch to our four major milestones for the year, which are as follows:

May - Antares First-Stage Static Fire Test at Wallops
June - Antares Test Flight for COTS
Third quarter - COTS Demonstration Mission*
Fourth quarter - CRS Mission

*Orbital's operational dates are subject to coordination with NASA's ISS cargo delivery schedule[/size]

ЦитироватьOrbital Hopes Antares On Pad In Five Weeks[/size]
Feb 24, 2012
 
By Frank Morring, Jr.

Barring additional difficulties getting a new launch pad ready at Wallops Island, Va., Orbital Sciences Corp. expects to begin fit checks and other pad work with its first Antares cargo launch vehicle late next month or early in April.

That would clear the way for a first launch of the liquid-fueled rocket late in June or early in July, and its first flight to the International Space Station with a load of cargo late in August or in September. Conceivably the first mission under the company's eight-flight, $1.9 billion commercial resupply services (CRS) contract with NASA could come before the end of the year.

"I want to stress that this sequence of events assumes that all major activities proceed smoothly without major technical problems, which if they were to occur would likely delay subsequent milestones from these targeted dates," Orbital CEO David Thompson said Feb. 21 in reporting company earnings for 2011.

Problems getting the greenfields Antares pad at Wallops certificated for propellant handling and pressurization delayed the schedule "eight to nine months," Thompson said, and traffic at the ISS could thwart the notional plan to begin docking at the station at the end of the year.

The first of those flights would complete Orbital's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) milestones and clear the company to begin delivering cargo under the CRS contract.

Orbital developed the Antares (formerly Taurus II) and the pressurized Cygnus cargo vehicle under a COTS space act agreement, which pooled company and NASA funds to develop private vehicles for ISS resupply.

The Cygnus vehicle for that flight is complete and in thermal vacuum testing at the company's Dulles, Va., satellite factory.

It should be delivered to Wallops Island in June, Thompson said. The first Antares reached the "98% complete point" at the end of December, he said, and will support the new launch schedule.

But the equipment needed to handle liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen for the vehicle has needed redesign and repair, and won't be tested and certificated until the end of April.

Thompson said the first vehicle may be rolled from its integration facility to the pad and erected early in April for fit checks and other work, and then returned to the integration building to await a hold-down host-fire test after the pad is fully tested and certificated.

That test should come in May, followed by the test flight with an instrumented Cygnus mass simulator by midsummer. The COTS demonstration flight to deliver the first Cygnus to the ISS for grappling and berthing with the station's robotic arm would come next, station traffic permitting, followed by the first CRS flight.

"Assuming the first three go well, then I think the fourth one is a little bit anticlimactic because we will have fully demonstrated on multiple occasions most aspects of the cargo delivery system and at least on one occasion all aspects of it," Thompson said. "So our focus right now is on those things we can control centered on those first couple of big milestones coming up in the – mostly in the second quarter."[/size]

ЦитироватьOrbital Sees First Antares Launch Midsummer[/size]

Цитировать«Антарес» стартует в середине года[/size]

28 февраля 2012 года, 20:07 | Текст: Александр Березин |
Носитель «Антарес», оснащённый советским двигателем НК-33, и его герметичная капсула «Сигнус» будут готовы к первому грузовому полёту по снабжению МКС к середине 2012 года. По мнению его производителя, Orbital Sciences Corporation, запуску новой ракеты может помешать только неразбериха с полётным графиком обслуживания МКС, возникшая после порчи «Союза» и задержки старта Dragon.

Orbital Sciences Corp., которая, как и SpaceX, собирается занять место в первом ряду компаний, участвующих в обеспечении МКС, отчиталась на прошлой неделе о финансовых результатах за 2011 год и о готовности к полётам в 2012-м. По словам её руководителя Дэвида Томпсона, первый из восьми оплачиваемых НАСА грузовых рейсов компания может осуществить уже летом. В мае будет готов космодром для «Антареса», сама же ракета с декабря пребывает в состоянии «почти старта», ожидая только заправки жидким кислородом.

К маю же появится капсула, в которой может размещаться до 2 000 кг полезного груза. Впрочем, в первом «Сигнусе» будет только символический груз, а демостыковка с МКС предполагается в ходе второго полёта.

«Антарес» со смонтированным на нём «Сигнусом» (здесь и ниже изображения Orbital Sciences Corp.).

Сама ракета-носитель кажется относительно надёжной, в особенности её первая ступень. Не в последнюю очередь благодаря советскому двигателю НК-33 (разработанному для лунной программы СССР почти полвека назад), сорок штук которых были куплены примерно по миллиону долларов за каждый в 1990-х. Вспоминая, что сейчас за каждого доставленного на МКС американского астронавта Роскосмос берёт с американцев $60 млн, можно лишь отметить правоту древнекитайской поговорки о том, что продать что-либо по разумной цене может только тот, кто не нуждается в деньгах.

На май этого года назначены наземные испытания «Антареса» на космодроме, а в июне состоится первый опытный запуск. Сложнее дело обстоит с первым грузовым полётом. Тесты «Союза ТМА-04М» в начале февраля 2012-го закончились разгерметизацией корпуса, по разным версиям произошедшей то ли из-за производственных дефектов, то или из-за неаккуратных действий персонала, проверявшего герметичность. Перенос на май старта Dragon ещё дальше сдвигает утверждённый 2 февраля график полётов на МКС. Пока Orbital Sciences полагает, что первый грузовой старт может состояться в августе–сентябре, когда, по расчётам, откроется «окно» в расписании рейсов к МКС.

Сбудутся ли эти планы, сможет ли НАСА хотя бы по части грузовых поставок стать независимым от своих партнёров, покажет ближайшее будущее. И если запланированные грузовые рейсы будут удачными, американцы, вполне возможно, очень скоро перейдут к самостоятельной доставке астронавтов в ближний космос при помощи частных фирм-извозчиков. Таких как Orbital Sciences.


«Сигнус» на стадии проверки систем перед установкой обшивки.

Подготовлено по материалам Aviation Week[/size].

ЦитироватьWed, 28 March, 2012
Space Station's Future Rides on Commercial Cargo Haulers [/size]
By Irene Klotz

 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — In the near-term, NASA is on track to make good use of the international space station but problems loom if the commercial companies hired for cargo runs do not come through, members of a congressional oversight committee warned March 28.

 "I hope the incredible potential of the space station is not squandered," Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Texas), chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said during a hearing, which was webcast, to assess the status of the orbiting outpost.

 The United States is counting on two U.S. companies, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Orbital Sciences Corp., to deliver cargo and experiments to the station beginning this year. SpaceX is scheduled to launch its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule April 30 for a test run to the station. Orbital Science's Antares rocket and Cygnus capsule is expected to follow this summer.

 Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, says he believes that in addition to SpaceX's demonstration flight, the companies will be able to pull off at least two cargo runs to the station within a year.

 Hall pointed out that when NASA selected SpaceX in 2006 to develop a space station cargo ship, its first flight to the space station was expected in June 2009. Dragon ended up debuting on Dec. 9, 2010, completing a test milestone originally proposed for September 2008.

 "We spent two decades and tens of billions of dollars to build the international space station," Hall said. "I'm beyond frustrated to know that our space station program is now dependent on launch systems to do the job that NASA ought to be doing. Congress has been pretty clear that NASA is not to rely totally on these commercial proposals. I hear excuses and delay after delay for the supposedly simple act of delivering cargo to the space station. NASA has spent $1.6 billion on this effort so far and the nation doesn't have very much to show for it."

 Gerstenmaier said that when the companies miss milestones and have delays they are penalized.

 "If they miss a launch date, they owe us either some financial considerations or additional analysis," Gerstenmaier testified.

 For example, to compensate for one launch delay, SpaceX did a redesign and added equipment so refrigerated samples could be launched and returned on the Dragon capsule.

 "For every slip that occurs beyond a one-month period, we get some benefit back to us and we have to show how that provides equitable benefit to us equal to the amount that the slip has caused us," Gerstenmaier said.

 Former Apollo astronaut Thomas Stafford, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general who chairs the International Space Station Advisory Committee, testified that his oversight board and the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel unanimously agreed that the commercial vehicle launch schedule was "overly optimistic."

 "Both commercial contractors continue to experience significant delays in their development, testing and their launch dates," Stafford said, noting that after 2016, NASA is almost totally dependent on SpaceX and Orbital Sciences to resupply the station.

 "Recently NASA has updated and revised the launch manifest, making the schedule more realistic, but this still may have some potential optimistic assumptions," he added.
...
 Gerstenmaier also noted that the $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion NASA has invested in the commercial cargo carriers is "significantly less than we would have spent on a typical NASA full-up development of that activity.

 "We have the potential to really get this cargo capability at a dramatically less cost than we would have paid under traditional contracting," he said.[/size]

ЦитироватьТоже самое, что будет в том случае, если F9 завалится в третьем.

ЦитироватьА завалиться он может только по этой причине? :wink:

ЦитироватьИнтересно, что будет если этот "Антарес" завалится в первом полёте.

Цитировать

ЦитироватьИнтересно, что будет если этот "Антарес" завалится в первом полёте.

А я бы хотел, чтобы он полетел успешно. И кстати, это самая мощная РН на космодроме Уоллопс.

Цитировать

Цитировать

ЦитироватьИнтересно, что будет если этот "Антарес" завалится в первом полёте.

А я бы хотел, чтобы он полетел успешно. И кстати, это самая мощная РН на космодроме Уоллопс.

Я вас наверно не обрадую, но на этот космодром мне тоже наплевать.

 Успешный полёт "Антареса" позволит говорить, что НК-33 "залетали у американцев" и, может быть, на них, что называется, "обратят внимание" и у нас.

Цитировать:) Ну вы не пуп земли, чего же мне переживать о вашем мнении относительно космодрома Уоллопс.

ЦитироватьДа, успешные полеты "Антареса" положительно повлияют на НК-33. Наконец, прервется история мытарства этого двигателя. И это будет символично, что двигатели от конкурента "Сатурн-5" полетят с территории США. Короче, успехов "Антаресу".

ЦитироватьУспешный полёт "Антареса" позволит говорить, что НК-33 "залетали у американцев" и, может быть, на них, что называется, "обратят внимание" и у нас.

Цитировать

ЦитироватьУспешный полёт "Антареса" позволит говорить, что НК-33 "залетали у американцев" и, может быть, на них, что называется, "обратят внимание" и у нас.

И много у вас внимания обращают на летающий у американцев РД-180?

ЦитироватьТак РД-180 начали разрабатывать в 94-м.
А когда, извините, было принято решение по Ангаре?
Конкурс объявлен в 92-м, победитель выявлен в 94-м. Где тут "перебежала дорогу"? Нечему было перебегать.  :wink:

Цитировать

ЦитироватьТак РД-180 начали разрабатывать в 94-м.
А когда, извините, было принято решение по Ангаре?
Конкурс объявлен в 92-м, победитель выявлен в 94-м. Где тут "перебежала дорогу"? Нечему было перебегать.  :wink:

Скорее всего это был пассаж про Русь  :wink:

Цитировать9 April 2012 Last updated at 23:12 GMT
US space companies prepare for space station docking[/size]
By Neil Bowdler and Matt Danzico
BBC News, Wallops Island, Virginia


Orbital's system will launch from Wallops Island, off the coast of the US state of Virginia (Video produced by Matt Danzico) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17541345)

Two US rocket companies are readying the first private space missions to the International Space Station (ISS).

SpaceX and Orbital both have multi-billion dollar Nasa contracts to supply cargo to the station, filling the void left by the retirement last year of the space shuttle.

California-based SpaceX has set the pace so far, having successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule into orbit, and safely returning the capsule to Earth, in December 2010.

The company says it could launch for the ISS as soon as 30 April.
Continue reading the main story
"
Start Quote

You wouldn't want to drink water in space if you knew what it cost to put it there"
Prof Howard McCurdy
American University

Orbital Sciences Corporation is still to test fire its Antares rocket, and its Cygnus capsule has yet to make it to space.

But the company is now looking to move quickly, with a static launch test and a first launch into orbit scheduled for the summer, and a possible rendezvous with the ISS in the autumn.

Frank Culbertson, a former astronaut and senior vice president at Orbital, admits it does feel a bit like a race.

"A little bit. They actually started the development of their system about a year-and-a-half before us, but we're almost neck-and-neck in terms of who's going to launch next, who's going to get to the station first.

"They're probably three or four months ahead of us on the schedule that we see, but who knows how things will work out?

"Nasa needs both companies to succeed on every single mission if at all possible."

The two companies have very different pasts, and have built very different spacecraft.

While Orbital has been in business since 1982, building satellites, small rockets and missile interceptors, SpaceX is just a decade old, even if its plans are big.

SpaceX designs and builds much of its Falcon 9 rocket system in-house, while its Dragon capsule can carry cargo or crew, say its makers.

The company's chief executive, PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, says Dragon could be used to ferry astronauts into space by 2015, and the company is one of four companies that Nasa has awarded seed funding to develop commercial crew vehicles.

Orbital has chosen a different path, buying in many of the components from across the globe.

Much of the the liquid-fuelled lower-stage rocket is designed and built in the Ukraine, while its engines are 40 years old and come from the Soviet Union's ill-fated N-1 lunar rocket.

Orbital's Cygnus capsule, meanwhile, is a purpose-built cargo vehicle that is designed to ferry supplies and not astronauts to the ISS. After being filled with waste from the station, it will burn up on its return to Earth.



While SpaceX will launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Orbital has chosen the lesser-known Wallops Island, a Nasa-operated facility just four hours drive from Washington DC.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, or MARS, to give the launch site its proper name, is still a building site as final work is completed to ready the site for a static test firing of the Antares rocket.

The rockets themselves lie on their sides in a massive hanger just over a mile away from where they will be transported to the pad aboard an equally massive "erector launch vehicle" which will lift them into position on the surface of MARS.

Antares' launch and flight into space will be controlled from a nearby Nasa control room. There, amid the screens and consoles, Jay Pittmann, Nasa's range commander at Wallops, says the agency is learning the art of letting go.

"It is a risk to hand that off to a commercial entity and to give up control. That is the biggest difficulty for us, not being in every part of that, assuring that every piece is going to work.

"In the end, we're taking our lifeline and we're handing it to these commercial companies, but we have confidence that they're going to get there."


The cargo module will manoeuvre autonomously once close to the ISS. Video by the BBC's Matt Danzico

There is also an eagerness to have access to American rockets, even if they're not Nasa's.

"We're relying on the Russians and other nations to get equipment and material to the International Space Station," he says. "Quite honestly, that's not as comfortable a position as we'd like to be in as a nation."

It's not just the agency which is conscious of the risks involved. Orbital will have the task of guiding the Cygnus capsule to the ISS from the company's control facilities at its Dulles HQ, near Washington, and the design of the entire rocket system is its responsibility.

Frank Culbertson says things could go wrong.

"Nasa has to bless us, and Nasa has full veto power when we get within the vicinity of the station, but the companies are responsible for their performance," he says.

"Since it's a fixed-price contract, we also have to control our costs, control our resources, and if we're ever going to make any money on it, we've really got to do it efficiently.

"That means in reality there may be some failures. If that's the case, we just learn from them and we go on and we get the next one going."

What all parties are hoping is that Orbital and SpaceX can not only get to the station safely, but that they can lead the way in cutting the cost of space travel.

"What I'd like to see is that the competition between the two firms spurs some technical breakthroughs that result in lower cost for getting to space," says Prof Howard McCurdy of the American University in Washington DC.

"It just costs too much right now. You wouldn't want to drink water in space if you knew what it cost to put it there."[/size]

ЦитироватьЧастные компании в США готовятся к стыковкам с МКС[/size]
Последнее обновление: вторник, 10 апреля 2012 г., 16:50 GMT 20:50 MCK

Две частные американские ракетные компании - SpaceX и Orbital - готовятся к первым запускам своих орбитальных аппаратов к Международной космической станции (МКС).

Каждая из них имеет контракты с НАСА на доставку грузов на станцию стоимостью по несколько миллиардов долларов каждая.

Впереди пока что идет расположенная в Калифорнии SpaceX, которая успешно запустила свою ракету-носитель "Фалькон-9" и беспилотный аппарат "Дракон", вернувшийся на Землю в декабре 2010 года.

Компания сообщила, что планирует первый старт для стыковки с МКС на 30 апреля.

Оrbital Sciences Corporation в свою очередь пока что проводит испытания своей связки - ракеты Antares и капсулы "Сигнус". Вместе с тем ее руководство объявило об ускорении программы испытаний, заявив, что первый полет состоится летом этого года, а возможная стыковка с МКС - уже осенью.

Франк Калбертсон, бывший астронавт, а ныне один из вице-президентов компании Orbital, признает, что все это напоминает космическую гонку.

"Да, немного. Компания SpaceX начала разработку своей системы за полтора года до нас, но теперь мы их почти догнали. Они нас опережают месяца на три-четыре, но кто знает, как обернется дело? НАСА хочет, чтобы доставкой занимались обе компании".
Два подхода

Эти две компании имеют разную историю и создали они совершенно разные космические аппараты.

Компания Orbital занимается ракетными проектами с 1982 года - она изготовляет спутники, небольшие ракеты и противоракетные перехватчики; компания SpaceX существует всего 10 лет.

Она разработала и теперь производит тяжелые ракеты-носители "Фалькон-9"; а ее орбитальный аппарат "Дракон" может быть и беспилотным, и пилотируемым.

Глава компании Элон Маск, один из основателей платежной компании PayPal, говорит, что аппарат "Дракон" сможет уже к 2015 году доставлять людей на борт МКС, и что его компания входит в число четырех, которым НАСА выделила средства на разработку коммерческих пилотируемых кораблей.

Компания Orbital пошла по иному пути - она закупает многие компоненты своей системы по всему миру.

Первая ступень ее ракеты-носителя основана на украинской ракете, а двигатели, изготовленные в свое время для советской лунной ракеты Н-1, были закуплены в России.

При этом орбитальный аппарат "Сигнус", разработанный в компании, существует только в беспилотном варианте, ориентированном на доставку грузов к МКС. Он не рассчитан на возвращение на Землю и должен сгорать в атмосфере вместе с мусором, который он будет забирать со станции.
Сравнение новой техники

Немалый риск

Стартовые площадки двух компаний также располагаются в разным местах. Компания SpaceX будет запускать свои аппараты с мыса Канаверал в штате Флорида, а компания Orbital - с менее известного острова Уоллопс в окрестностях Вашингтона.

Там расположен объект НАСА - космодром MARS (Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport), Сейчас там завершаются работы по подготовке стационарных огневых испытаний ракеты "Антарес".

Сами ракеты находятся сейчас в огромном ангаре в миле от стартового стола, куда их доставит тяжелый подъемный механизм.

Франк Калбертсон замечает, что этот проект сопряжен с немалым риском. По его словам, НАСА знает об этом и учитывает, что компании придется учиться на собственных ошибках.

"Я бы хотел, чтобы конкуренция между этими двумя компаниями привела к появлению новаторских технических решений, которые существенно снизили бы стоимость выхода в космос, - говорит профессор Хоуард Мак-Карди из Американского университета в Вашингтоне. - Пока что эта стоимость слишком высока. Глоток воды в космосе так дорог, что может отбить охоту пить вообще".[/size]

ЦитироватьРонату, нужно помечать, что это историческая картинка. Сейчас жидкой ступени уже нет. Продажи РД-0124 зарезал кто-то в правительстве РФ. Соответственно, из документов по Антаресу она исчезла.

ЦитироватьРонату, нужно помечать, что это историческая картинка. Сейчас жидкой ступени уже нет. Продажи РД-0124 зарезал кто-то в правительстве РФ. Соответственно, из документов по Антаресу она исчезла.

Цитироватьа если махнуть на 4xРД-0146 ?

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Цитироватьа если махнуть на 4xРД-0146 ?

А зачем четыре?

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Цитироватьа если махнуть на 4xРД-0146 ?

А зачем четыре?

иначе для второй ступени таги маловато будет )
или там гравпотери уже не большие ?

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Цитироватьа если махнуть на 4xРД-0146 ?

А зачем четыре?

иначе для второй ступени таги маловато будет )
или там гравпотери уже не большие ?

Для Атласа же хватает 2 такой же тяги.

ЦитироватьNASA Administrator Bolden Visits Wallops[/size]
May 2012

On Thursday, May 17, Orbital's Senior Vice President Frank  Culbertson briefed NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on our progress on the  COTS and CRS programs as he visited NASA Wallops Flight Facility. The first Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM)  that will fly aboard the COTS program demonstration mission later this year is on-site at Wallops, where it will be integrated with the Cygnus Service Module (SM), which is being built and tested at our Dulles production facilities (see  several updates on the SM below). Mr. Culbertson briefed the Administrator on Orbital's progress in developing the  Cygnus vehicle, as well as the company's momentum toward launch pad "certification" which will enable Orbital to conduct full operational activity for pre-flight tests and the first two Antares missions later this year.


(left to right) Bill Wrobel, Director, Wallops Flight Facility; Chris Scolese, Director, Goddard Space Flight Center; Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator; and Frank Culbertson, Senior Vice president for Human Spaceflight Systems, Orbital.  (NASA photo)


Administrator Bolden gets a close look at the Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Module (NASA photo)[/size]

ЦитироватьИнтересно, а чем им РД-0110 не подошел?

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ЦитироватьИнтересно, а чем им РД-0110 не подошел?

дык производитель у него тот же, что и у РД-0124.

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ЦитироватьИнтересно, а чем им РД-0110 не подошел?

дык производитель у него тот же, что и у РД-0124.

Но кроме этого ничего общего. Не "суперсовременный", не "суперэффективный", не мелкосерийный, все банально, дешево и просто.

ЦитироватьА когда эта штуковина, Cygnus, вообще должна по плану полететь? В этом году полетит?

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ЦитироватьИнтересно, а чем им РД-0110 не подошел?

дык производитель у него тот же, что и у РД-0124.

Но кроме этого ничего общего. Не "суперсовременный", не "суперэффективный", не мелкосерийный, все банально, дешево и просто.

Там не в этом дело. Они собирались использовать многократный пуск, по крайней мере в брошюре по Таурусу II было, т.е. РД-0124А. РД-0110 не подошел бы. Ну и конечно, если есть лучший УИ, зачем покупать худший? Им ведь не астронавтов пускать.

ЦитироватьНу и HAPS со Star у Orbital есть.

ЦитироватьUpdated COTS & CRS Schedules[/size]
April 2012

Orbital updated its COTS and CRS operational schedules, with plans to achieve four major milestones over the next year.  They are as listed below:

Third quarter 2012 - Antares First-Stage Static Fire Test at Wallops

Third quarter 2012 - Antares Test Flight for COTS

Fourth quarter 2012 - COTS Demonstration Mission to ISS*
     
First quarter 2013 - CRS Mission #1 to ISS*

*Orbital's operational dates are subject to coordination with NASA's ISS cargo delivery schedule[/size]

Цитировать

ЦитироватьА когда эта штуковина, Cygnus, вообще должна по плану полететь? В этом году полетит?

Кстати - контракт CRS НАСА с Орбитал по деньгам намного больше чем с Маком.

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ЦитироватьА когда эта штуковина, Cygnus, вообще должна по плану полететь? В этом году полетит?

Кстати - контракт CRS НАСА с Орбитал по деньгам намного больше чем с Маком.

За что?

ЦитироватьSub-CLIN0001AKPricingConditions:
1) The above prices are conditional upon the unpressurized cargo module not exceeding its maximum predicted mass capacity for each mission. The maximum predicted gross capacity (combined mass of ORUs and all FSE) for a nunpressurized cargo missionis 2,000 Kg, and assumes 25% FSE mass that remains attached to the UCM, resultingin a 1,500Kg delivered
cargo capacity (ORU splus ORU-attached FSE) per UCM mission.

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ЦитироватьКстати - контракт CRS НАСА с Орбитал по деньгам намного больше чем с Маком.

За что?

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/418855main_oc_nnj09ga02b.pdf

Цитироватьhttp://www.orbital.com/CargoResupplyServices/

ЦитироватьUpdated COTS & CRS Schedules[/size]
April 2012

Orbital updated its COTS and CRS operational schedules, with plans to achieve four major milestones over the next year.  They are as listed below:

Third quarter 2012 - Antares First-Stage Static Fire Test at Wallops

Third quarter 2012 - Antares Test Flight for COTS

Fourth quarter 2012 - COTS Demonstration Mission to ISS*
     
First quarter 2013 - CRS Mission #1 to ISS*

*Orbital's operational dates are subject to coordination with NASA's ISS cargo delivery schedule[/size]

ЦитироватьМечты, мечты... :wink:

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ЦитироватьЭх, не успеют наверно два полёта в этом году сделать.

 Как бы NASA не сочло, что "уже всё сделано" и не прикрыло этот контракт.

Мечты, мечты... :wink:

Ваши? ;)

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ЦитироватьКстати - контракт CRS НАСА с Орбитал по деньгам намного больше чем с Маком.

За что?

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/418855main_oc_nnj09ga02b.pdf

За что Орбитал больше денег?

ЦитироватьСмысл моего вопроса: что Орбитал делает и может предложить такого, чего Спейсэкс не делает?

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ЦитироватьЗа что Орбитал больше денег?

Смысл моего вопроса: что Орбитал делает и может предложить такого, чего Спейсэкс не делает?

ЦитироватьЕсли первая ракета завалится, то это ни на что не повлияет кроме сроков.  8)

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ЦитироватьЗа что Орбитал больше денег?

Смысл моего вопроса: что Орбитал делает и может предложить такого, чего Спейсэкс не делает?

А кто мешал Маску демпинговать не так активно? :wink:

ЦитироватьНазвание первого полёта "risk reduction flight" Вам ни о чём не говорит?

ЦитироватьСпасибо. Вот это ответ на заданный мной вопрос.

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ЦитироватьСпасибо. Вот это ответ на заданный мной вопрос.

Ну и потом имейте в виду, что в 2007-м SpaceX был еще совсем никто. Была полная неизвестность. Да собственно посмотрите на Kistler: даже люди Джорджа Френча пользовались большим доверием. Вот и выбрали их, на всякий случай. А когда они закономерно провалились, пришлось вернуться к Орбиталу. Томпсон и Элиас по крайней мере сделают, что обещали, хоть у них и не будет так дешево, как у Элона Маска. Это сейчас легко рассуждать, а тогда кроме Орбитала вообще не было серьезных претендентов.

ЦитироватьOn August 18, 2006, NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) announced that SpaceX and Rocketplane Kistler (RpK) won Phase I of the COTS program.

ЦитироватьNASA terminated the COTS agreement with RpK in September 2007 after NASA warned RpK that it had failed to raise sufficient private funding by the July 31, 2007 deadline, freeing up $175 million from the COTS budget to be awarded to another company or companies.

ЦитироватьOn February 19, 2008, the second round selection was made to Orbital Sciences Corporation, for the Cygnus spacecraft.

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ЦитироватьНазвание первого полёта "risk reduction flight" Вам ни о чём не говорит?

Что касается меня, так мне, в общем, на сам Cygnus, "весьма фиолетово", главное чтобы первая ступень отработала как надо. :)

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ЦитироватьНазвание первого полёта "risk reduction flight" Вам ни о чём не говорит?

Что касается меня, так мне, в общем, на сам Cygnus, "весьма фиолетово", главное чтобы первая ступень отработала как надо. :)

я бы еще не против, шоб шляпу вовремя сняли...

ЦитироватьJune 4th, 2012 by Chris Bergin

With one half of the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) puzzle enjoying a fully successful test flight, Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft is closing in on its own debut attempt to visit the International Space Station (ISS) later this year. In a mission that is surprisingly similar to that undertaken by SpaceX's Dragon, the success of Cygnus should result in full CRS capability by 2013.

Waiting For Cygnus:

While the mission may be similar, the test schedule is slightly accelerated, with Orbital first tasked with a debut flight of its new launch vehicle, the Antares – formerly known as Taurus II, to be then followed by a one-off full COTS level demonstration mission, not unlike SpaceX's C2+ mission, tasking Cygnus with a single flight to prove its ability, prior to starting CRS operations proper.
See Also

Antares' debut has been delayed, mainly by ongoing work at the Wallops launch site, although it is hoped Orbital will be able to test launch the new vehicle and then follow it up with Cygnus' mission to the ISS by the end of this year.

The launch vehicle is powered off the pad by its main engine, the Aerojet produced AJ-26 – a rebuilt version of Soviet NK-33, originally intended for the massive N-1 launch vehicle.

A milestone for this engine was reached last month, when the company achieved a successful test firing at NASA's Stennis Space Center (SSC).

The tanking for the Antares was contracted to the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau from the Ukraine. Yuzhnoye has extensive knowledge in producing kerosene rocket bodies as the producer of the Zenit launch vehicle.

Antares utilizes an ATK solid upper stage called the Castor 30, which is a derivative of the Athena and Taurus I first stage Castor 120 which is in turn a derivative of the Peacekeeper ICBM first stage. The first two initial flights will use the Castor 30A, while an upgraded version will be utilized for the next two flights called the Castor 30B.

Later in the vehicle's lifetime, Orbital had originally intended to switch to a liquid upper stage called the HESS, utilizing the Russian RD-0124. However, the company later decided to go with a stretch of the original upper stage called the Castor 30XL.

The Castor 30XL will power the last six flights scheduled right now for the Antares, and will launch extra cargo on a larger Cygnus Spacecraft.

The upcoming milestones for Antares include what documentation describes as the 7K hot fire test on the launch pad at Wallops. Antares' testing had placed the hardware into a stance to be ready to conduct this hot fire by the first half of 2012. However, the delays to the schedule, caused by ongoing construction of the new pad by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) teams, caused a slip to this test.

The current Orbital schedule shows this test fire will take place in the third quarter of this year, to be followed – within weeks – by the debut launch of Antares, validating the new vehicle ahead of aiding Cygnus' first trip into space.

No official launch date has been published for the COTS demonstration mission to the ISS – a single full up mission, as opposed to the C1 and C2+ mission for SpaceX's Dragon – although the hope is a successful debut of Antares would allow for a mission in the fourth quarter of this year.

The Cygnus vehicle consists of an advanced Service Module and a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM). The Service Module incorporates avionics, power and propulsion systems from Orbital's flight-proven LEOStar and GEOStar satellite product lines.

Thales Alenia Space are providing Orbital with the pressurized modules for cargo missions to the ISS. The first PCM was followed by three more units in "standard" configuration, capable of transporting up to 2,000 kg of cargo each, along with five "enhanced" configuration units to follow, boosting payload capacity to 2,700 kg.

While Orbital's established history in the space flight arena is well known, the Italian-based company are also a major player, famous for hardware such as the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) Cargo Carrier, built for the European Space Agency (ESA).

Thales Alenia Space was also a key player in the Columbus laboratory and prime contractor for Node 2, Node 3 and the Cupola – all now on orbit with the ISS.



Cygnus Demo Mission Overview:

Per L2 mission overview documentation – L2 Link, Antares will launch Cygnus into orbit for five to six days of ORB-D (the name for the COTS demo mission) demos during the period of far field phasing.

Future missions will only require a standard three days prior to arriving at the ISS.

The Cygnus vehicle will be controlled by Orbital at MCC-Dulles, using an ops team that has experience operating GEO satellites, boosted by an increasing number of flight controllers from NASA MOD, who will bring their ISS experience to the table.

There will be two key operational phases for the opening part of the mission, the Integrated Launch Operations Phase (ILOPS), for ascent and insertion, handing over to the Phasing Operations Phase (POPS), for the catch up to ISS.

As seen with SpaceX's Dragon mission, one of the main challenges is to safely arrive in the ISS' back yard, with extra caution required when entering the ISS' "Keep Out Sphere (KOS)".

Dragon's only hiccup during its arrival related to the sensors used to allow the spacecraft to "see" the ISS and calculate the distance and closure rates. This system is called the Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR).

Due to stray light and reflections coming off the ISS, the SpaceX team had to recalibrate – successfully – one of the beams to narrow its field of view.



Cygnus will use the TriDAR vision system – designed by Canadian company Neptec, with the support of NASA and the Canadian Space Agency. This system provides real-time visual guidance for navigation, rendezvous and docking procedures.

The system has proved its worth by flying on three shuttle missions, previously with Discovery on STS-128 and STS-131, prior to the recent trip with Atlantis on STS-135.

Its performance with Atlantis during rendezvous was impressive, with the TriDAR-created video of the acquisition of the International Space Station showing how the system tracked the orbital outpost from 34km out, all the way through to Atlantis' docking.

Arguably more impressive was the footage from the undocking and half lap flyaround of the Station, with TriDAR operated in imaging mode.

Given real-time tracking of undock and flyaround had already been previously performed during STS-131, the Neptec TriDAR team took the unique opportunity to produce 3D and thermal movies of the last Shuttle based ISS flyaround operation.

Neptec noted that the 3D Triangulation and LIDAR Laser Range images were collected simultaneously, utilizing a triangulation subsystem based on OBSS (Orbiter Boom Sensor System) LCS (Laser Camera System) technology. The system worked so well that Commander Chris Ferguson took time during the undocking and flyaround phase to pass on thanks to the TriDAR team.

The ISS and Cygnus – as with all visiting vehicles, including Dragon – also need to show they have a strong communication link, required not least for the ability to manually abort the approach – or at least retreat – in the event of problems. This phase of the mission is called the Joint Operations Phase (JOPS).

This critical approach period is called Proximity Ops, with Cygnus using the JEM PROX system for direct communications with ISS, effectively resulting in the use of the same system Japan's HTV uses for arriving at the ISS, as much as there will be a number of different settings employed for Cygnus' arrival.

As with Dragon, Cygnus will stalk the ISS, slowly creeping up to its target via a large series of demos to test its systems. As the Orbital spacecraft sneaks up the R-bar, under the ISS, it will enter the KOS.

Once inside the KOS, Cygnus will demonstrate that he can hold and retreat, prior to receiving the go – via polling – to proceed.

With its TriDAR locked on – the tenth demo of the approach at this point – a final go will be given for Cygnus to approach to the capture point, mirroring Dragon's own successful approach last month.

The ISS' Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) will then reach out and grapple Cygnus, prior to being berthed on the Station.

Once berthed, the ISS crew will begin vestibule ops and Cygnus activation via ISS power jumpers on rendezvous day, documented as a nine hour procedure. Hatch opening and ingress will occur on the following mission day.

Cygnus' hatch is very similar to a standard US segment hatch, albeit slightly smaller, making it a similar sight to the ISS crewmembers. A ventilation duct will be hooked up, and the spacecraft cleared of any dust prior to becoming safe to ingress without eye protection and masks.

Cygnus currently supports a berthed duration of up to 30 days, with this period of the mission classed as the Berthed Operations Phase (BOPS).

It is not yet known what cargo Cygnus will be manifested with for this demo mission, although a basic sequence for cargo ops has already been written.



This involves the crew removing the "top layers" on PORT and STBD pallets to make room in PCM. They will then remove components of the Secondary Structure as required, ahead of emptying the FWD and AFT pallets to gain access to the Standoff pallets, which they will empty and repack.

The reverse sequence will be employed until the vehicle has been repacked, although all the return cargo won't be classed as downmass, because – unlike Dragon – Cygnus won't be returning to the ground or water.

Instead, it'll be sent on a path to a destructive re-entry.

The final phase of the mission – a reverse of the berthing procedures – is called the Descent & Reentry Operations Phase (DROPS), as Cygnus ends its life in a disposal corridor during entry, hopefully with a smile on its face, following a successful demonstration that paved the way for its siblings to each take a turn in providing full CRS operations, starting early in 2013.

The deal to carry out ISS resupply flights – under the $1.9 billion CRS contract – encompasses eight missions between 2012 and 2015 carrying approximately 20,000 kg of cargo to the ISS.[/size]

ЦитироватьPierce also said Orbital now plans to test-fire the first stage of its Antares rocket in late July or early August at the new Wallops Island, Va., spaceport — a month later than the schedule announced in late April.

A successful test-firing will be followed by a demonstration flight of the two-stage Antares vehicle, without the Cygnus cargo module, in August or September.

The first Antares-Cygnus flight, designed to carry cargo to the international space station, then would occur in November or December.

Antares and Cygnus would begin regular cargo deliveries to the station, under Orbital's Cargo Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA, at a rate of two flights per year starting in 2013.

Orbital's CRS contract, valued at about $1.9 billion, calls for eight flights carrying a total of 20,000 kilograms of cargo to the space station.

Pierce said the international space station's demand for cargo is big enough to give both Orbital and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif., business beyond that covered by the current CRS contract.

SpaceX, which successfully concluded its demonstration flight of its Dragon capsule to the space station in May, has its own CRS contract with NASA valued at $1.6 billion.

"There is plenty of room to deliver cargo to the international space station," Pierce said. "I don't think there is going to be a winner and a loser, or that anybody is going to eat anybody else's lunch."

Pierce said Orbital's cargo resupply contract with NASA was signed nearly three years after SpaceX's contract, and that Orbital is currently six or seven months behind SpaceX, "so we've caught up," he said. Both companies are about two years behind their station cargo-supply contract schedules.

With development work on the GeoStar 3 platform now about finished, and the company's station logistics development program also winding down as Orbital moves toward regular production, the company expects to enter a period of higher profitability, Pierce said.

Orbital is forecasting that its revenue will increase by an average of between 7 and 9 percent per year between 2012 and 2014, with 2012 revenue to be up 9 percent over the 2011 total of $1.35 billion.

Operating profit will be between 6.5 percent and 7 percent of revenue in 2012 and is expected to increase in 2013 and 2014 as the company enters full CRS operations and revenue generation. Capital spending will drop "precipitously" starting next year, Pierce said, further fueling profitability.[/size]

ЦитироватьISS Update: Bruce Manners, NASA COTS Project Executive for Orbital Sciences

ISS Update commentator Josh Byerly interviews Bruce Manners, NASA COTS Project Executive, about Orbital Sciences and the Cygnus rocket. Cygnus will deliver cargo to the International Space Station then return to Earth filled with trash for destructive entry like the Russian Progress resupply vehicle. Questions? Ask us on Twitter @NASA_Johnson and include the hashtag #askStation. For the latest news about the space station, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

ЦитироватьMeanwhile, the first Antares hold-down test at Pad 0-A is now scheduled for September. As part of its fight demonstration agreement with NASA, Orbital has to complete that test before it can launch Antares on its maiden flight, now scheduled for December. In the December flight, Antares will fly without its Cygnus cargo module. It would not be until next year, when Antares flies for the second time, that Orbital's European-built Cygnus freighter would fly to orbit and berth with the space station. The first Antares/Cygnus flight was supposed to happen in December 2010.[/size]

ЦитироватьAs I mentioned in the Antares thread, I think the Space News reporter had the Antares Test and the Obital Demo-1 flights confused.  As far as anybody at Orbital knows, ORB D-1 is still scheduled for 12 December 2012 (knock on wood...)

ЦитироватьUpdated COTS and CRS Schedules
July 2012

Orbital updated its COTS and CRS operational schedules, with plans to achieve four major operational milestones within the next year. They are as listed below:

 Late August/Early September 2012 - Antares First-Stage Static Fire Test at Wallops
 October 2012 - Antares Test Flight for COTS
 December 2012 - COTS Demonstration Mission to ISS*
 First quarter 2013 - CRS Mission #1 to ISS*

*Dates are subject to coordination with NASA's ISS cargo delivery schedule.

ЦитироватьThree Cygnus Service Modules in Dulles

December  2012

As the year draws to a close there are now three substantially complete Cygnus Service Modules in Orbital's Dulles, Virginia Satellite Manufacturing Facility (see photo below).  In addition to the integration and testing of the spacecraft, the program has achieved a number of key milestones in the last few months:



Mission Operations to Spacecraft Testing:  The Orbital team successfully completed the first test of the Mission Operations to Spacecraft link. The COTS demo service module was attached via data and command lines to Orbital's Mission Operations Center in Dulles, Virginia, and the mission timeline from launch to berthing was exercised by the Cygnus team.  This test required the team to operate in shifts, flying the spacecraft continuously for approximately 80 hours to simulate all required maneuvers to achieve ISS berthing, successfully executing all required procedures.

Safety Review:  In addition, the Cygnus engineering and safety teams successfully completed the presentation of our final safety hazard assessment to the ISS Safety Review Panel, including design and operational controls to mitigate hazards to the Space Station or its Crew.

Joint Avionics Software Validation Testing: At the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Orbital connected its Cygnus "Flatsat" to a ISS "Flatsat" platform to validate the avionics that comprise the spacecraft and the Cygnus ground control system. Joint Test 4 (JT4) validated Cygnus interfaces to the ISS successfully demonstrating its ability to send commands and receive telemetry. Cygnus flight software also demonstrated nominal and off-nominal approaches, nominal departures, aborts, and a wide variety of responses to faults.

Joint Test 5, also known as the End-to-End-Test, used the same test configuration and included mission control centers in Houston, Texas, Dulles, Virginia, and Tskuba, Japan to validate the ability of the distributed ground control system to properly operate ISS and Cygnus. The team passed all test cases on the first pass with no issues.

ЦитироватьOrbital Sciences Poised For 2013 ISS Cargo Deliveries

By Mark Carreau mark.carreau@gmail.com
Source: AWIN First

   
December 27, 2012

Hurricane Sandy came and went in late 2012, as did many of the start up issues at Virginia's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), elevating the prospects that Orbital Sciences Corp. will complete its NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Systems program milestones in the New Year and begin lucrative cargo deliveries to the International Space Station.

A successful demonstration flight of Orbital's two stage Antares rocket from MARS including an inaugural rendezvous of its Cygnus cargo craft with the six-person orbiting science laboratory targeted for April would bring the Dulles, Va., based company's abbreviated five-year development effort under the COTS initiative to a successful close.

It also would trigger the start of a $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) agreement awarded to Orbital by NASA in late 2008. Orbital would join SpaceX to provide the 15-nation station program with the second U.S. re-supply source envisioned by NASA for the post-space shuttle era when COTS program planning began in 2005.

"We would certainly expect, if we go in April with the demo mission, to carry out at least one CRS mission in 2013, but that is really driven by NASA's needs and paced by NASA," Orbital spokesman Barron Beneski says. "Orbital could certainly do two."

As 2012 came to a close, Orbital's inventory included a pair of the Antares boosters. A third pressurized Cygnus, built by Thales Alenia of Italy and based on the flight proven Multi-purpose Logistics Module used by the shuttle to re-supply the station, was about to join the inventory as well.

Orbital also has benefitted from the "lessons learned" provided by Hawthorne, Calif., based SpaceX. NASA's other COTS partner carried out its first CRS mission, under a $1.6 billion NASA contract, in October 2012, five months after its successful rendezvous demonstration mission.

"We talked about the experiences SpaceX was having," said Bruce Manners, the NASA COTS executive assigned to Orbital. "We gave them some direct lessons learned from the first mission with SpaceX that reinforced some of the things we were already doing, like simulations with the operations team. We've worked quite closely."

Both companies have experienced significant development delays, though there are crucial differences in the approaches taken by privately owned SpaceX and publicly traded Orbital. SpaceX chose the 60-year-old Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., as its launch site. Orbital chose MARS, which is newer and closer to its corporate home.

Hurricane Sandy's late October fury bypassed Florida and took aim at the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, interrupting efforts by Orbital to break in a new commercial launch complex, overseen by the state of Virginia and located on NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.

As 2012 ended, Orbital was carrying out a series of countdown dress rehearsals in which fuel was pumped to an Antares first stage. The two-engine first stage, positioned on its MARS launch pad on Oct. 1. was to undergo an independent 29-sec. hot fire test in January.

The workload seemed likely to push a COTS required orbital test flight of the Antares with a Cygnus mass simulator into February 2013, Beneski said. The test flight does not involve a space station rendezvous.

SpaceX carried out a similar test of its Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon mass simulator in December 2010, 18 months later than initially planned. Initially, Orbital envisioned a March 2011 test flight.

Orbital came to the COTS initiative in February 2008, replacing Rocketplane Kistler, which had missed a series of early technical and financial milestones. Like Rocketplane Kistler, SpaceX was a winner in an earlier COTS competition in August 2006.

Orbital and SpaceX were eligible for $396 million and $288 million, respectively, in NASA funding as they completed discrete development milestones. In addition, each was eligible for a $10 million fee for the delivery of cargo to the station on its final COTS rendezvous demonstration.

Cygnus will likely deliver about 1,000 lb. of supplies on its first station flight. The capsule is designed to haul up to 4,400 lb. of supplies. Orbital plans to introduce an extended version of Cygnus that can carry nearly 6,000 lb. after its series of eight commercial re-supply missions get underway.

Unlike Orbital, SpaceX's Dragon was developed to bring station research equipment and hardware in need of refurbishment back to Earth.

Whenever the first unpiloted Cygnus supply craft approaches the space station, Orbital can be assured that two or more astronauts aboard have been trained for the delicate task of tracking, capturing and berthing the capsule with the station's 58-ft.-long Canadian robot arm.

"The date is still in flux, and they are trying to make sure they do it right," said Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who is scheduled to be in command of the station in April and a likely participant in the capture activities. NASA astronaut Kevin Ford, the station's current commander, as well as early 2013 NASA crew members Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy will be prepared as well.

Цитироватьantonioe пишет:

Here's another picture of the three Cygnus Service Modules practically complete... the one on the right is, quite literaly, gathering cobwebs... (well, at least FIGURATIVELY...)

(http://radikal.ru/F/s020.radikal.ru/i702/1301/ac/3f539bb94562.jpg)

ЦитироватьSpace Pete пишет:

From Twiter/@jeff_foust:

ЦитироватьCulbertson: 1st Antares hot fire test planned for next Tuesday at Wallops; test flight in about a month to 5 weeks after. #faacstc

Culbertson: COTS demo flight planned about 3 months after Antares demo flight; 1st CRS flight 3-4 months after that. #faacstc

So, that gives a loose schedule of:

Hot fire: 12 February
Test flight: 12-19 March
COTS demo: Early-mid June
1st CRS flight: Sep-Oct

ЦитироватьFrank Culbertson (Orbital Sciences)
 

[/li]
•       Cygnus - service module and pressurized cargo module
  
•       Will berth at same spot that Dragon uses
  
•       Four Cygnus modules in various stages of final assembly and testing
  
•       Facility near Dulles for testing
  
•       Enhanced Cygnus in development
  
•       Cargo loading at Wallops
  
•       Antares overview
  
•       3.9 m fairing
  
•       Aerojet AJ-26 - modified Russian NK-33 engines
  
•       First hot fire next Tuesday.
  
•       First launch a few weeks after that with a dummy test capsule
  
•       First launch with Cygnus then 4 months after that
  
•       Been longer road and more expensive than initially expected
  
•       Horizontal integration facility is complete (can be used by other launch firms)
  
•       Launch pad complete
  
•       VDOT (Virginia Dept. of Transportation) now supervisor of the MARS commercial launch facility
  
•       Tallest water tower
  
•       Wallops doesn't have launch conflicts but does have weather issues like hurricane Sandy
  
•       Stennis engine tests for 54 seconds
  

ЦитироватьA Closer Look at Orbital's Antares Rocket and Cygnus Freighter
Posted by Doug Messier
on March 8, 2013, at 12:37 am


Antares on the launch pad on Wallops Island. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation)

By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor

With the first launch of Orbital Sciences Corporation's Antares rocket set for about a month from now, I thought this would be a good opportunity to take a closer look about both the launch vehicle and the Cygnus freighter that will carry cargo to the International Space Station later this year.

The medium-lift Antares rocket is an international collaboration. Orbital is the prime integrator and has overall responsibility for systems engineering, avionics, primary structure, testing and software. It also has responsibility for the first stage development and integration.


Antares rocket. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation)

KB Yuzhnoye and PO Yuzhmash of Ukraine are providing the first stage propellant tanks and associated pressurization system. The technology is based on Zenit launch vehicle. The first stage includes two Aerojet AJ-26 engines, which are updated NK-33 motors manufactured by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau for the Soviet Union's manned lunar program.

The second stage incorporates Castor solid stage motors produced by ATK in the United States. Ruag of Switzerland is providing the payload separation system.

The rocket is designed to lift more than 5,000 kg. into low Earth orbit. The first Antares launches will be from Wallops Island in Virginia, but the rocket is also compatible with launch facilities at Cape Canaveral in Florida, Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska.

The Cygnus spacecraft is composed of two elements with spaceflight heritage. The Service Module incorporates avionics systems from Orbital's LEOStar and GEOStar satellite product lines as well as propulsion and power systems from the company's GEOStar communications satellites.


Cygnus module. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation)

The Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) is being produced by Thales Alenia Space in Torino, Italy. The PCM is based upon Thale's Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules, which space shuttles carried to the International Space Station (ISS) filled with supplies. One of the MPLMs was refitted and permanently docked to ISS.

Other non-U.S. suppliers include Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) of Tokyo for the Proximity Location System and Dutch Space of the Netherlands for its solar arrays. Draper laboratory, Odyssey Space Research, JAMSS America, and Vivace are also partners on the Cygnus vehicle.

Orbital will fly the inaugural Antares mission without a Cygnus freighter. If that goes well, the flight will be followed by a Cygnus demonstration mission carry some token cargo that to ISS. Both of those flights will be under the NASA-funded Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.

Once those two flights are successfully completed, Orbital will begin a series of eight cargo runs to the station under the space agency's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. NASA will pay about $1.9 billion for the flights.


Cygnus standard and enhanced Pressurized Cargo Modules. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation)

The initial deliveries will feature a standard cargo module with an interior volume of 18.9 cubic meters that will be capable of delivering 2,000 kg of cargo to ISS. Missions four through eight will feature an enhanced cargo module with a volume of 27 cubic meters and improved solar panels that will deliver up to 2,700 kg to the orbiting facility. In all, Orbital is contracted to deliver 20,000 kg to the station.

ЦитироватьCOLORADO SPRINGS — Orbital Sciences Corp. believes it can sell space on the commercial cargo vehicle it has developed with NASA seed money as an orbiting laboratory once it is unloaded and unberthed from the International Space Station.
The Orbital Sciences Antares medium-lift launch vehicle set for its inaugural flight next week won't carry the Cygnus capsule developed to deliver cargo to the ISS, but the instrumented mass simulator it is set to place in orbit will remain there for several months before re-entering the atmosphere.
So will future full-up Cygnus vehicles, which will be outfitted to support both the cargo they carry for the space station and any hosted payloads Orbital can find. The company already has a contract with NASA's Glenn Research Center to conduct a combustion experiment on an emptied Cygnus once Orbital begins flying out its $1.9 billion, eight-mission Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract.
"We expect we will have a pretty sophisticated spacecraft that can operate on orbit for upward of a year," said Michael Hamel, Orbital's senior vice president for corporate strategy and development. "Now, this becomes a very interesting platform for being able to provide routine spaceflight opportunities for various technology and operational demonstrations, so we're actively looking at down-the-road missions with CRS becoming a hosted payload platform."
The Glenn experiment will study how fires can propagate and be extinguished in a spacecraft, on a scale that would be unsafe to attempt on an occupied vehicle. In the future,
Hamel said Orbital hopes to use the Cygnus to create a market once filled by the Get Away Special (GAS) canisters in the space shuttle payload bay.
The so-called GAS cans carried a variety of stand-alone space experiments that were jettisoned once the payload bay doors were opened, giving researchers a way to expose experiments to the space environment. Potential customers for Cygnus payload space include civilian and military government agencies and commercial researchers.
The Cygnus/Antares stack will fly two or three missions a year to the ISS. Initially it will be able to deliver 2,000 kg (4,400 lb.) of cargo to the station, a capability that will grow to 2,700 kg after planned improvements in the spacecraft and launcher after the third CRS flight.
Unlike the SpaceX Dragon capsule, which was also developed with Commercial Orbital Transportation Services seed money from NASA, the Orbital vehicle does not carry thermal protection for re-entry, and is not designed to eventually accommodate humans. Instead, Hamel said during the National Space Symposium here, itis "optimized for cargo," and so can fulfill its 20,000-metric-ton delivery requirement in eight flights instead of the 12 it will take the Dragon.
"We can take about 50% more cargo than the Dragon," he said.

ЦитироватьCygnus Integration Begins at Wallops Flight Facility

April 2013

Orbital has unpacked the Cygnus Service Module (SM) (pictured in the foreground below) from its transfer trailer and has begun launch site integration testing following its journey from Orbital's Satellite Manufacturing Facility in Dulles VA. The Cygnus SM and its Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM)(background) are now both located in Building H-100 at the Wallops Flight Facility. Orbital is planning to mate the cargo-loaded PCM to the SM early in the week of April 1st.



COTS Demo Cygnus Spacecraft Mated at Wallops

April 2013

The COTS Demonstration Cygnus spacecraft completed a significant milestone on Tuesday, April 2, when its Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) was attached to the Service Module (SM), and all mechanical flight connections were attached. The PCM was recently loaded with cargo, and was reoriented from the horizontal to the vertical to facilitate the attachment. The vertically oriented PCM was then lifted and precisely relocated over the SM by Orbital engineers and technicians.
After connecting electrical harnesses, the now completed Cygnus will perform a final set of tests to ensure proper functioning of the combined PCM/SM systems. After completion of the testing, the Cygnus will be prepared for transportation to the fueling facility.

ЦитироватьOrbital's Cygnus Spacecraft Sel ected by NASA to Host Experimental Fire Safety Payload
-- Saffire Experiments Will Test Flammability of Various Materials in Low-Gravity Environments --

(Dulles, VA 08 August 2013) – Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB), one of the world's leading space technology companies, today announced it has been sel ected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to host a scientific payload that will improve spacecraft fire safety for future space exploration vehicles. Known as the Spacecraft Fire Experiment (Saffire), the payload will be hosted aboard Orbital's Cygnus™ advanced maneuvering spacecraft and is planned for flight by mid-2015.

"While the primary mission of Cygnus is to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS), Saffire will demonstrate the ability of Cygnus to provide important secondary mission capabilities, including as a platform to conduct a wide variety of experiments and demonstrations beneficial to the scientific and engineering community," said Mr. Frank DeMauro, Orbital's Cygnus Program Manager.

"After completing its cargo delivery mission, Cygnus has the capability of remaining in space for months at a time and provide substantial power, data and propulsion support to hosted payloads," DeMauro added. "This affords researchers ample time to conduct experiments in a real-world space environment at an affordable cost, a very attractive feature for scientists looking to conduct short- to medium-duration research and for space industry communities developing flight heritage data for materials and systems."

The self-contained Saffire payload, built by NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC), will test the flammability of large samples of various types of materials in low-gravity environments. It will be integrated into Cygnus' Pressurized Cargo Module and remain in place throughout the duration of the cargo delivery mission.

Orbital is currently under contract for one mission, but NASA is preparing three flight systems, Saffire I, II and III, each dedicated to a separate Saffire Cygnus mission. Saffire I will test one fabric sample, while Saffire II will test 10 fabric samples and Saffire III will test a hybrid of the Saffire I and II samples.

"Currently, most flammability data for materials in microgravity is obtained during short-duration, drop-tower tests with small sample sizes," said Mr. Carl Walz, Orbital's Vice President for Human Spaceflight and a former NASA astronaut. "There is very little data on large-scale material flammability in low-gravity environments. Gathering this type of data will enable NASA to enhance safe operations of new space vehicles that are being designed for long-duration travel to the Moon, asteroids and other destinations."

"The Cygnus design has been modified to provide a standard interface capability for future internally and externally hosted payloads, similar to the system we have used for hosted payloads on our commercial communications satellites. This will provide low-cost, short-lead time and regular spaceflight opportunities for a variety of future government and commercial hosted payloads," said DeMauro.
 
About Cygnus
Orbital developed Cygnus as part of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) joint research and development initiative with NASA. Beginning later this year, Orbital will conduct eight Cygnus missions to deliver approximately 20,000 kilograms of cargo to the ISS, including crew supplies, spare parts and equipment, and scientific experiments. Each Cygnus will launch aboard an Antares rocket fr om the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) launch pad at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, VA.

A low-risk design spacecraft, Cygnus consists of a common Service Module (SM) and a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM). The SM incorporates avionics, power and propulsion systems already successfully flown aboard Orbital's LEOStar™ and GEOStar™ satellite product lines. The PCM, designed and built by Thales Alenia Space under a subcontract fr om Orbital, is based on the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM). For more information on Cygnus, click here.

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 .

ЦитироватьAntares Launch Sets Up Engine Search
By Frank Morring, Jr. morring@aviationweek.com
Source: AWIN First

 September 18, 2013

Orbital Sciences Corp. has enough hardware on hand for the 10 commercial cargo missions it has contracted with NASA, and is already looking ahead to the day when it runs out of the surplus Soviet-era Russian engines it uses to power its new Antares launch vehicle.

The Dulles, Va.-based company is on the way to completing its second NASA mission with the safe launch Wednesday of its second and final demonstration mission with the Antares, this one carrying pressurized cargo to the International Space Station in the first full-up Cygnus cargo vehicle to fly.

If all goes well, and the Cygnus is able to demonstrate safe handling before reaching the ISS on Sunday morning, Orbital will be ready as early as Dec. 8-21 to begin fulfilling its eight-flight, $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) to deliver bulk food, clothing and equipment to the station. The mission launched Wednesday completes the company's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) spacecraft-development agreement with NASA. It carries about 700 kg. of supplies, while early CRS flights will be able to handle as much as 2,000 kg of pressurized cargo, and an enhanced Cygnus would have a 2,700-kg capability.

Frank Culbertson, Orbital executive vice president, told reporters here after the Sept. 18 launch that Aerojet has another 16 AJ-26 engines in stock beyond the 20 Orbital has under subcontract for its NASA COTS and CRS missions. Aerojet modified the surplus Russian Nk-33 engines for the Antares role, and Orbital hopes to use them to meet the launch services market originally carried by the Delta II medium-lift launch vehicle, in addition to the NASA contracts that expire in 2016.

Once the old Russian engines run out, Culbertson said, Orbital has plans to find a replacement that will enable it to continue flying Antares.

"We're looking at what the options are, who has engines that might be compatible and what's available and how long would it take to develop and/or order them," Culbertson said. "So we've got a very active effort going on."

That effort includes discussions with "everybody who says they make an engine," he said. "We know that sometime after 2016 we need to start looking at other alternatives."

Meanwhile, Orbital controllers were off to a good start on the COTS demonstration. Culbertson said the Antares placed the Cygnus in a 289-by-257-km orbit, slightly above targets. The solar arrays deployed and began providing electrical power, and all valves opened to pressurize the propulsion system that will be used to pursue the ISS, which was over the Indian Ocean at the 10:58 a.m. EDT liftoff from the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

After a series of thruster burns to raise the orbit toward the station, the controllers plan a demonstration of the Cygnus' ability to navigate using the Global Positioning System. Culbertson said the vehicle will approach the station and back away twice to demonstrate safe handling before going into the final "R-bar" approach from directly below it. The vehicle is scheduled to hold itself autonomously at a range of 250 meters before moving in close enough for station crewmembers working in the cupola to grapple it with the robotic arm and attach it to the nadir common berthing mechanism on Node 2.

The crew will open the hatch, unload the cargo and begin filling the vehicle with trash and unneeded gear that will ride to a destructive re-entry over the South Pacific east of New Zealand after about a month at the station.

ЦитироватьBuoyed by Antares Success, Orbital Sciences in Hot Pursuit of Commercial Launch Contract
 By Peter B. de Selding | Oct. 18, 2013

  (http://www.spacenews.com/sites/spacenews.com/files/images/articles/Antares4x3_NASA.jpg)
The Antares rocket's success in its first two NASA-funded demonstration flights has begun to draw interest fr om commercial and non-NASA government customers, according to Orbital Sciences CEO David W. Thompson. Credit: Orbital Sciences Corp.
 
 PARIS — Satellite and rocket hardware manufacturer Orbital Sciences on Oct. 17 said that its new Antares rocket's success in its first two NASA-funded demonstration flights has begun to draw interest fr om commercial and non-NASA government customers.
In a conference call with investors, Orbital Chief Executive David W. Thompson said the company is already chasing one commercial customer for a one- or two-launch contract to be conducted starting in 2016.
Thompson did not identify the customer or the type of orbit, but said Orbital would be submitting a contract proposal in the coming weeks. A contract decision is likely in the first three months of 2014, he said.
"With two really good launches under our belt, things are picking up in terms of customer interest," Thompson said of Antares, whose first two flights — one delivering a cargo module to the international space station — were conducted for NASA.
A third flight, and the second carrying the Cygnus space station freighter, is scheduled for December. It will be the first delivery on an eight-launch contract with NASA for station resupply, with the second and third of these flights to occur in the spring and autumn of 2014.
The first Cygnus demonstration flight to the station carried about 682 kilograms of payload. The second will carry double that amount, with future flights increasing their payload complement. Under the $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services, or CRS, contract, Orbital is obligated to deliver 20,000 kilograms of supplies to the station over the eight flights.
Clearly basking in the glow of the first two Antares successes, Thompson said the eight CRS launches are likely to be completed by the end of 2016. Orbital expects NASA to move out on a CRS follow-on contract sometime in 2014.
The partners in the space station — the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada — have agreed to maintain the orbital outpost until 2020 at least. They are talking about an extension to 2027 or 2028 pending an assessment of what hardware would need to be replaced, or recertified for further use beyond 2020.
Until the recent Antares successes, Orbital officials had been circumspect about Antares' market beyond NASA. Thompson said that for the next few years the main non-NASA customer will almost certainly be other U.S. government agencies.
Thompson made no mention during the call of Orbital's ongoing attempts to secure a supply of Antares first-stage engines, whether by restarting production of the Russian AJ-26 engines, purchased through Aerojet Rocketdyne for use on Antares, or finding an alternative.
In the past, Orbital officials have said the supply of refurbished, or refurbishable, AJ-26 engines was lim ited and that the company would need to settle on a long-term solution by mid-2014. Orbital has said it has enough of the current-generation AJ-26 engines to complete the NASA CRS contract flights. Each Antares first stage uses two AJ-26 engines.
Orbital and Aerojet Rocketdyne have not always agreed on the number of AJ-26 engines that could be made available without restarting the Russian factory wh ere their production ended years ago. Restarting that production line, Aerojet Rocketdyne officials have said, would not be a problem.
Dulles, Va.-based Orbital reported an 8.5 percent drop in revenue, to $989.9 million, for the nine months ending Sept. 30 compared with last year mainly because of lower revenue in its commercial geostationary telecommunications satellite business.
Thompson said late orders, and orders that were signed but late in taking effect in terms of revenue flow, in the commercial satellite segment hurt 2013's revenue picture.
But it did not hurt the company's operating profit margins, which rose to 9.2 percent from 7.5 percent over the same nine-month period.
The same Satellites and Space Systems division whose revenue dropped 24 percent in the nine months ending Sept. 30 saw its operating profit margin increase to 10.5 percent from 8.1 percent.
Do not expect a repeat of the profit performance in 2014, Thompson said. What happened in 2013 was that several challenging commercial satellite contracts moved through Orbital's factory without a hitch, allowing the company to apply reserves it had held in the event of a hiccup to be transferred to the profit line.
Orbital has also been conservative in its profit estimates under the CRS contract. But Thompson did not disagree with investors who presumed that the CRS contract would be much more profitable for Orbital than the two-launch demonstration contract with NASA that preceded it.
 
Follow Peter on Twitter: @pbdes (https://twitter.com/pbdes)

ЦитироватьOrbital Sciences plans upgrades to resupply system
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: January 14, 2014
 
DULLES, Va. -- Orbital Sciences Corp. officials say the Obama administration's endorsement of a life extension for the International Space Station will allow for technical upgrades and cost reductions for the company's commercial resupply service.
 
Artist's concept of an enhanced Cygnus spacecraft arriving at the International Space Station. The enhanced cargo craft, featuring circular solar arrays and a larger pressurized module, will debut in early 2015. Photo credit: Orbital Sciences Corp.
 
 

Спойлер

But the Virginia-based company is not waiting for a new contract to introduce improvements. Later this year, engineers will install higher-power radios and a better navigation sensor into Orbital's Cygnus cargo carrier and fly a more capable solid-fueled upper stage motor on the Antares launcher used to send supplies into orbit.
Orbital invited Spaceflight Now into the Cygnus control center at the company's Northern Virginia headquarters Sunday, offering rare behind-the-scenes access to the mission operations team as the spacecraft rendezvoused with the space station for a high-flying delivery of 2,780 pounds of experiments and supplies.
The Cygnus spacecraft's cargo load was the heaviest ever transported to the space station by one of the U.S. commercial cargo vehicles, eclipsing previous hauls by Cygnus and SpaceX's Dragon capsule.
The 16.8-foot-long cargo vessel completed a smooth three-day pursuit of the space station Sunday, holding its position 30 feet below the complex as astronaut Mike Hopkins snagged the automated spaceship with a robotic arm.
Sunday's arrival marked the first of eight cargo missions Orbital has under contract with NASA. The $1.9 billion agreement, reached by NASA and Orbital in December 2008, calls for the delivery of 40,000 pounds of supplies over the eight flights.
Orbital officials welcomed NASA's announcement Jan. 8 that the White House supports continuing to fly the space station until at least 2024.
"There's really no reason to stop operations on the space station until it completely is no longer usable, and I think it will be usable for a long time because it's very well built, very well maintained, and NASA and their engineers understand it very well," said Frank Culbertson, executive vice president and general manager for Orbital's advanced programs group.
The space station will need crew and cargo transportation services as long as it operates, giving Orbital Sciences and other companies in the business an anchor market. Orbital and SpaceX, NASA's other cargo transport provider, developed their rockets and resupply ships in a cost-sharing scheme using NASA funding and private capital.
NASA's current contracts for cargo missions with SpaceX and Orbital run through the end of 2016. To ensure no gap in service, Orbital officials say they would like to see new orders in place this year.
"We're hopeful that some time in 2014 NASA will see our spacecraft performs very well and start looking at ordering additional missions from us, so that we can start ordering hardware not only for us to manufacture internally, but for our suppliers to manufacture," said Frank DeMauro, Orbital's Cygnus program manager. "I think we've shown tremendous benefits of building ahead and buying ahead. We would like to continue to do that for follow-on missions."
NASA officials have not said how many more resupply missions they will put under contract, or whether the procurement will be an extension of the existing deals with SpaceX and Orbital or another open competition.
The space station extension to 2024 "gives us a chance to be innovative and maybe invest in some improvements on how we do this to make it more cost-effective, more efficient, quicker turnaround times, [and] go more often," Culbertson said.
 
File photo of an Antares rocket inside the hangar at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Photo credit: Orbital Sciences Corp.
 
 "We definitely will go to more of a production mode rather than a development mode on the spacecraft and the rocket," Culbertson said. "We can really get very efficient with that if we can do the same design over and over, and that's what we intend to do for the next phase of [cargo] services."
Orbital Sciences managers said they would study incremental upgrades to the spacecraft's systems and would respond to any NASA request for extra capability.
Some improvements will be introduced as soon as the next Cygnus resupply mission, named Orb-2 and tentatively scheduled for launch May 1.
DeMauro said engineers will install a U.S.-built software-defined radio on the Orb-2 mission to replace a radio from a European subcontractor. And the Orb-2 flight will see the debut of a new navigation sensor to aid the craft's approach to the space station.
The TriDAR sensor, developed and built by Ottawa-based Neptec Design Group, is a next-generation rendezvous aid tested on three space shuttle flights, including the final mission in July 2011.
The Cygnus spacecraft's existing laser navigation system measures the distance and closing rate of the spaceship by bouncing light signals off of reflectors mounted on the space station's Japanese lab module. The TriDAR system does not need reflectors, instead determining the Cygnus spacecraft's position by creating a three-dimensional thermal map of the station and comparing it with a model embedded in the system's software.
The TriDAR is also effective at greater distances from the space station, according to Neptec engineers.
Orbital will use the radio and TriDAR in backup mode on Orb-2. If they perform well, they will be used operationally on the Orb-3 resupply mission in October.
The October cargo launch will also mark the first flight of the Antares rocket's more powerful Castor 30XL upper stage motor provided by ATK. The Castor 30XL is a lengthened version of the Antares rocket's flight-proven Castor 30 motor, boosting the launcher's maximum load to the space station by more than 1,000 pounds.
Then on Orbital's first logistics mission in 2015, known as Orb-4, the company will trot out an enhanced version of the Cygnus spacecraft with a larger pressurized cargo module, a new circular solar array design, and lighter structural components and wiring harnesses, DeMauro said.
The upgrades will allow Cygnus to haul nearly three tons of supplies to the space station.
According to DeMauro, the Cygnus service module for Orb-2 is finishing up testing at the company's headquarters here and will be moved to the launch site at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore in March. The pressurized cargo module, built by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, will be shipped to Wallops aboard an Antonov An-124 transport plane in late January, he said.

[свернуть]

ЦитироватьLooking forward with both third-party launch vehicles and with the upgraded propulsion system on Antares, the Cygnus capacity will expand, on
average, to about 3,300 kilograms. It will vary a little bit up or down by a few hundred kilograms from that amount depending on the specific
launch vehicle we use. But, the basic enhanced Cygnus that was already planned to come online next year is the same one we plan to use now. It
will just be able to carry slightly heavier cargo loads because the launch vehicles will be more capable in terms of their payload capacity.

ЦитироватьSam Grey пишет:
Орбитал подписал конктракт с ULAза пуск одного Атлас 5 401 к ISS в 2015 и опцию на второй в 2016.

 http://www.ulalaunch.com/ula-signs-contract-with-orbital-sciences.aspx

ЦитироватьДимитър пишет:
Антареса больше не будет ?

ЦитироватьPress Release
Contact: Barron Beneski, (703) 406-5000, beneski.barron@orbital.com
Orbital Announces Additional Details Concerning CRS Program and Antares Launcher Go-Forward Plans

-- Next Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft to Be Launched on Atlas V Vehicle in Fall 2015 --

-- Upgraded Antares Rockets to Resume Flights from Wallops Island in Early 2016 --

(Dulles, VA 9 December 2014) – Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB), one of the world's leading space technology companies, today announced new details in its plans to resume cargo flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and to accelerate the introduction of an upgraded Antares launch vehicle. In formulating its go-forward plans, the company's primary objective is to fulfill its commitment to NASA for ISS cargo deliveries with high levels of safety and reliability and minimum disruption to schedules. As previously announced, these plans are expected to allow Orbital to accomplish all remaining cargo deliveries under its current Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA by the end of 2016 and with no cost increase to the space agency.

The company's go-forward plans for the CRS program and Antares launch vehicle include these major elements:

• Atlas V Launch: Orbital has contracted with United Launch Alliance for an Atlas V launch of a Cygnus cargo spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the fourth quarter of 2015, with an option for a second Atlas V launch in 2016 if needed. The Atlas rocket's greater lift capacity will allow Cygnus to carry nearly 35% more cargo to the ISS than previously planned for CRS missions in 2015.
• Antares Propulsion Upgrade: The company has confirmed its ability to accelerate the introduction of a new main propulsion system for the Antares rocket and has scheduled three additional CRS launches in the first, second and fourth quarters of 2016 using the upgraded vehicle. The greater payload performance of the upgraded Antares will permit Cygnus spacecraft on each of these missions to deliver over 20% more cargo than in prior plans. With necessary supplier contracts now in place, the first new propulsion systems are expected to arrive at the Antares final assembly facility at Wallops Island, Virginia in mid-2015 to begin vehicle integration and testing.
• Wallops Launch Site Repairs: The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) has assessed the clean-up, repair and reconstruction work necessary to return the Wallops launch complex to operational status. Current plans call for repairs to be substantially completed by the fall of 2015, with recertification taking place before year end.
The flexibility of Orbital's Cygnus cargo spacecraft to accommodate heavier cargo loads, together with the greater lift capacity of the Atlas V and upgraded Antares vehicles, will allow the company to complete all currently contracted ISS deliveries in four missions instead of the five previously planned flights over the next two years. In addition, the company's revised approach is not expected to create any material adverse financial impacts in 2015 or future years as Orbital carries out the CRS cargo delivery and Antares propulsion upgrade programs.

ЦитироватьRifkat пишет:
МКС после 2020го не будет - куда ему, модифицированному, летать?

ЦитироватьAvailability, DEC while under development for Atlas V, has not yet flown on it. They need to fly in 2015. Just as a reminder, the old DEC used a hydraulic thrust vector control. Centaur currently uses an ectronic control. To bring DEC back, it needs the same changes to the thrust vector control.

ЦитироватьULA rep: Atlas V will help Orbital ATK's Cygnus get back in the game

Orbital's Cygnus space, despite the loss of the Orb-3 mission last year, will fly this year - atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket. Photo Credit: NASA         
             
Jason Rhian
March 16th, 2015          
                                 
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla — After the Oct. 29, 2014, loss of an Orbital Sciences Corporation (http://www.orbital.com) Antares booster, the Cygnus spacecraft and the estimated 5,000 lbs (2,268 kg) of cargo it carried, one of the first questions many had asked was: "What will they do now?" The firm, based in Dulles, Virginia, was relying on its Antares launch vehicle, which had already traveled to the International Space Station (ISS) successfully three times and had flown four times overall to carry out missions to the outpost. Now the company would have to be swift on its feet and find another path to orbit.
With its booster on the sidelines as Orbital investigated the problem, it found a solution and implemented needed changes – how would it fulfill its obligations under the $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract? The answer lies in one of the most reliable rockets that is currently in service – United Launch Alliance's (http://www.ulalaunch.com) Atlas V.
It was announced in Nov. 2014 that Orbital had tapped the Atlas to fly at least one mission in 2015 and the company is planning on stocking the Cygnus that will carry out this mission with 7718 lbs (3500 kg) of supplies to the space station. This is compared to 7,991 lbs (3,625 kg) that the three prior flights had successfully delivered to the orbiting laboratory.

According to Thorpe, the 401 configuration of the Atlas V has more than enough thrust to ferry a fully-laden Cygnus to orbit. Photo Credit: NASA
 
ULA will use the 401 configuration of the Atlas V, the lightest capacity booster fielded by the aerospace firm based in Centennial, Colorado. The launch vehicle will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) no-earlier-than (NET) the latter half of 2015.
Although the first four flights of Antares were, by and large, flawless – the fact that the rocket employed 40-year-old rocket engines was a subject of concern in aerospace circles. Originally dubbed the "NK-33" in the early 1970s by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau (in fact, the rocket's very initials come from its chief designer – Nikolay Kuznetsov), these engines were originally intended for use on the Soviet Union's massive N-1 Moon rocket.
The Atlas V booster has been used for all manner of missions, running the gamut from those carried out for the Department of Defense, planetary and science missions for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and also commercial payloads – such as the Worldview-3 spacecraft launched on Aug. 13, 2014 – from Vandenberg Air Force Base located in California.
The flight of Cygnus on an Atlas V will certainly mark one of the more unique missions of 2015.
If everything goes according to plan, there will be only one flight of Cygnus on Atlas as the company is currently planning to return the Antares to flight in 2016. However, as the likely cause of the loss (http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/commercial/insider-exclusive-images-orbitals-antares-rockets-fiery-destruction/) of Antares last October was either a turbopump failure in one of the two AJ26 rocket engines that Antares used in its first stage failing or debris within the engine itself, the company has tapped another Russian-made engine – the RD-181 – for use on Antares.

Since the loss of the Cygnus CRS Orb-3 in October of last year Orbital ATK has worked to return its Cygnus spacecraft to flight. Photo Credit: Joel Kowsky / NASA
 
SpaceFlight Insider works to bring you, the viewer, on the "inside" – whenever possible. As such, we sat down with ULA's Vern Thorp to find out more about this mission – specifically about what differences there will be between a typical flight of an Atlas V, as opposed to the one that will carry Cygnus on the first part of its journey to the International Space Station.
SpaceFlight Insider: Thanks for chatting with us today Vernon. What does this mission mean for United Launch Alliance? How unique is it in terms of what your company does?
Thorp: "At a very, very top level it looks different because, you know, it'll be a cargo mission, it'll be our first one and there are some unique aspects in terms of processing to get us ready for it.  Once we dug into the details and started working with Orbital, talking to them about what it would take to fly this mission, it turns out that it looks very 'standard' to us.
"When we fly the typical NASA science missions, oftentimes, they have to buy not only a standard launch service but they have all kinds of mission-unique requirements that we have to accommodate. Some examples would be, say, for instance, the Pluto New Horizons and the Mars Science Lab Curiosity missions we have to put in these gigantic doors in the payload fairing (PLF) so people can mount nuclear power sources and [there are] all sorts of special air conditioning and sometimes even fluid systems requirements."
SpaceFlight Insider: So the size of Cygnus did not cause any issues or drastic changes?
Thorp: "For the Cygnus cargo module, although it's big and it looks very different from most of the spacecraft that we fly, it's actually very compatible with our standard launch service," Thorpe said. "The primary technical difference that we had to accommodate – was the mechanical interface. Cygnus uses one of the standard separation systems and interface ring sets that RUAG (the manufacturer of the payload fairings that ULA utilizes) manufactures in Sweden. But it is an interface that we have not flown before, so we are developing a new payload adapter to be compatible with that wider interface ring. Aside from that? There are very few, what we call mission-unique services required. In fact, it's pretty much on the low end compared to many of the NASA missions that we fly."

Unlike the Atlas V that carried out the launch of NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission on March 12, the Atlas that will be used to send the Cygnus CRS Orb-4 to the ISS will not utilize any solid rocket motors. Photo Credit: Mike Howard / SpaceFlight Insider
 
SpaceFlight Insider: Are there any difficulties in sending Cygnus to the ISS?
Thorp: "For this mission, we will be flying to low-Earth orbit and, in terms of our experience base, we've flown a lot of missions to low-Earth orbit, we fly them frequently, but we usually fly them from Vandenberg. Many of the NASA science missions, including the SMAP mission that we recently launched on a Delta II, went into a low-Earth orbit; I think it was a 370 nautical mile, almost circular orbit, and we do that a lot out of Vandenberg," Thorpe said. "So this will be a bit different in that we are flying out of the Cape. Launches that we conduct from the Cape are usually headed to a geosynchronous transfer orbit or, sometimes, we take them all the way out to GEO or, for the NASA interplanetary missions, we take them to [an] escape [trajectory]. So, this will be the first time in a long time, the first time in my experience certainly, that we have flown a low-Earth orbit mission out of Cape Canaveral. Obviously, that is what is required to place Cygnus in an orbit that will allow it to travel to the International Space Station."
SpaceFlight Insider: What will Atlas/Centaur do in terms of getting Cygnus' cargo to the ISS?
Thorp: "What we will do is take the cargo module to a little bit below the space station orbit and then after we separate them (from Atlas' Centaur upper stage) they will do some additional maneuvering to properly phase with the station and, eventually, get up to their exact orbit."
SpaceFlight Insider: The outward appearance of Cygnus lends to the impression that the 401 configuration of Atlas might not have the upmass capability required for such a flight; obviously, this is an inaccurate assessment?
Thorp: "We have plenty of performance on the 401 configuration of the Atlas V to be able to do this mission. You know, if you compare the performance level of the 401 to the Antares that they were using when they launch out of Wallops, Atlas actually has more capability – it's a bigger vehicle. So, even though we are launching out of a different location, we have plenty of performance to match what Orbital's Antares is able to do; in fact, we're able to offer a little more performance.
"One of the things that Orbital is going to do is to investigate how they can take advantage of that extra capability and maybe load a little extra cargo on board. So the goal, and it is certainly technically feasible, is to have significantly greater amount of cargo when they fly on top of an Atlas, to help them meet their overall commitment to NASA. In fact, I think when Orbital put out their first press release on this last year, they even said that they should with one or two Atlas launches – they should be able to meet their commitment on total cargo taken to the station with one less launch than they had originally envisioned."
SpaceFlight Insider: How many flights does Orbital currently have with ULA?
Thorp: "What we have right now is the capability to offer them a couple of rides. One this year and one next year, if they need it. What Orbital will do is, they will assess... their ability to get Antares up and operational and – if they conclude that they can do that in a timely manner and go be able to meet all of their requirements with just a single Atlas launch – there are provisions within the contract that allow them to do that. If they decide that they want the second Atlas launch? There are provisions within the contract that accommodate that as well. I think the way that they characterized it in their press releases was that they got one launch with an option for one more and that's a fair way to categorize it.
"The first launch will be late this year, with a second one possible – if they choose to go forward with it – would be in 2016. They are trying to maintain some flexibility to be able to deal with whatever they find as they try to get Antares back on line."

The launch of Cygnus CRS Orb-4 is currently slated to take place in the fourth quarter of this year. Photo Credit: Mike Deep / SpaceFlight Insider
 
SpaceFlight Insider: We were surprised that ULA tapped the four instead of the five meter fairing to carry out this mission.
Thorp: "Keep in mind that we have three different lengths of that four-meter fairing and Cygnus definitely pushed us to the longest version. So, for our four meter fairing, we have three different configurations; the standard one, we call the 'LPF' – that acronym goes back into ancient history is used to stand for 'large payload fairing' that was used back to when we were flying the 11 foot diameter as well as the 14 foot diameter. That was a standard size; then, in the mid-90s, to accommodate the EOS-Terra (http://terra.nasa.gov/) mission for NASA which we launched in 1999, we actually implemented a three-foot stretch to the cylindrical section of the fairing and we called that our 'EPF' or extended payload fairing.
"There was another mission, one I believe for the DoD (Department of Defense) that required even more volume and they inserted another three foot plug. There's like a three-foot barrel section, if you will. We added one to the EPF and then we added another one, which created our longest version, which we called the 'XEPF' and that's like the extra-long payload fairing. That third version, that longest version that we have, the Cygnus configuration will... absolutely require that. It is a tight fit – definitely. You know, we've got a static envelope that, if a payload stays within that envelope, then, once you account for all of the vibration movement that happens during flight, you ought to be okay and one of the first things we did when we began working with Orbital was to verify that it could fit in that XEPF, and it's a tight fit – but it does."
SpaceFlight Insider: Vern, the big question – when will we see this launch? 
Thorp: "We're notionally out in the fourth quarter of this year and I don't know if I can talk about specific dates, it is... the only thing that is constant about launch schedules is that they change all the time. But we're looking at the middle of the fourth quarter right now and we're protecting the ability to go earlier if we need to, so we are prepared to launch anytime in the fourth quarter of this year.
"The actual date that we pick will depend on how the other launches move around and it will also depend on the arriving and departing vehicle schedule up at the space station, because it's obvious that we have to coordinate with that and I suspect that the schedule with the folks down at Johnson Space Center manage all of the activities at the station and when they can accommodate an arriving vehicle – that will probably be one of the primary determinations of what the launch date is when we get there and I'm guessing we'll have a really good handle on that six months in advance."
SpaceFlight Insider: Vern, thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk with us today.
Thorp: "My pleasure!"
 

Thorpe stated that, by and large, launching Cygnus to the ISS should pose little problem for ULA. Photo Credit: NASA

ЦитироватьCygnus supply ship takes weather satellite's slot in Atlas manifest (http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/10/07/cygnus-supply-ship-takes-weather-satellites-slot-in-atlas-manifest/)
Posted on October 7, 2015 by Stephen Clark (http://spaceflightnow.com/author/stephen-clark/)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/154768.jpg)
The service module for Orbital ATK's next Cygnus cargo craft will be shipped to the launch site at Cape Canaveral fr om Virginia later this month. It features upgrades such as fan-shaped solar arrays and a lengthened cargo module. Credit: Orbital ATK.


Orbital ATK plans to launch its next two commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station on Atlas 5 rockets, grabbing a launch slot in March after a next-generation U.S. weather satellite was delayed, industry officials said.
The decision also gives engineers readying Orbital ATK's Antares rocket, which is being outfitted with a new type of engine, some extra breathing room in their test sequence at the Antares launch base at Wallops Island, Virginia, said Frank Culbertson, president of the company's space systems group.
The next two Cygnus flights, tentatively set for Dec. 3 and March 10, will fly from Cape Canaveral on United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets. Orbital ATK signed contracts for two Atlas 5 flights — using the company's own funds — to continue flying cargo flights to the space station after an Antares launch failure in October 2014.
"We worked out a very good arrangement with ULA to fly the Cygnus twice, once on Dec. 3 coming up and once next March, and then we'll pick up with flights out of Wallops next May approximately," Culbertson said Wednesday at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Orbital ATK announced in August the purchase of a second Atlas 5 launch for the company's Cygnus supply freighter, executing a contract option from a deal for the the first Atlas 5/Cygnus flight signed weeks after the company's Antares booster crashed shortly after launch in October 2014.
Officials in August said the Atlas 5 mission could fly before or after the Antares booster's return to flight, declining to identify a launch date.
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/154758.jpg)
File photo of an Atlas 5 rocket launch. The Cygnus missions will fly on the Atlas 5-401 variant with a four-meter payload fairing and no solid rocket boosters. Credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Tony Gray


A launch slot in the Atlas manifest originally assigned to NOAA's new GOES-R weather satellite will now go to Orbital ATK's Cygnus supply ship. Managers delayed the launch of the meteorological observatory from March to late 2016 after the weather satellite program encountered schedule slips, according to a NOAA spokesperson.
"An opportunity came up wh ere it looked like there was going to be a launch availability, and we looked at what we had going on, and the push to get Antares ready," Culbertson told Spaceflight Now. "And then we talked to NASA about how often would they really like cargo delivered, and we just decided that made a combination to go ahead and lock in that option and go ahead and launch (in March)."
The Dec. 3 flight, known as OA-4, could move forward one day if the rocket and spacecraft are ready in time, Culbertson said. One more Atlas 5 flight from Cape Canaveral is due for Oct. 30 with a GPS navigation satellite, then Cygnus is next in line.
The Italian-built cargo module for the December launch is being prepared for flight at Astrotech's commercial clean room near Cape Canaveral. The U.S.-manufactured Cygnus power and propulsion module will be trucked from Orbital ATK's Dulles, Virginia, headquarters to Florida next week, officials said.
The follow-up flight in March is designated OA-6, while the Antares return-to-flight mission is called OA-5. Officials decided to keep the OA-5 name with the Antares mission, according to Culbertson, a former shuttle and station astronaut.
Orbital ATK has a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA to ferry supplies to the space station over 10 flights through 2018, including the failed mission last year, which was the third in the sequence.
The October 2014 rocket failure, which Orbital ATK blamed on one of the first stage's AJ26 engines, grounded the Antares launcher. The company suspended Antares flights after the mishap, and accelerated an already-planned replacement of the troubled AJ26 engine with newly-built RD-181 engines.
Both powerplants are made in Russia, but the AJ26 engines — supplied by U.S.-based Aerojet Rocketdyne — were manufactured for the Soviet-era N1 moon rocket program in the 1970s. The RD-181 engines from NPO Energomash are based on a modern design, with components and heritage from the RD-180 engine used on ULA's Atlas 5.
Culbertson said the Antares team at Wallops has integrated the first two RD-181 engines with a first stage booster in the rocket's hangar. Another two RD-181 engines have been delivered to the United States for a subsequent Antares mission, he said.
The decision to launch back-to-back Cygnus spacecraft on Atlas 5s "took a little bit of pressure off the team at Wallops to get through their testing," Culbertson said. "They're still on track to make a March date, but now we have a little margin."
The Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, which owns the Antares launch facility on NASA property at Wallops, announced Sept. 30 the completion of repairs to the launch pad from damage sustained in last year's failure.
Culbertson said the launch pad will now be tested to ensure it is ready for a hotfire test of the Antares booster early next year.
The RD-181 engines burn the same kerosene and liquid oxygen propellant mixture as the AJ26 powerplants previously flown on Antares, but the new engines do not require "super-chilled" cryogenic liquid oxygen.
The oxidizer is still stored at about minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 184 degrees Celsius), but it is a few degrees warmer than the liquid oxygen conditioned for consumption by the AJ26.
"It's relieved some requirements on the plumbing and temperature control on the LOX side," Culbertson said in an interview. "LOX is still pretty darn cold, but no, it doesn't have to be super-chilled."
Email (mailto:sclark@spaceflightnow.com) the author.
Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1 (http://www.twitter.com/stephenclark1/).

ЦитироватьOrbital ATKVerified account‏@OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK)

Artist concept of our #Cygnus (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cygnus?src=hash) spacecraft supporting cislunar orbit human #space (https://twitter.com/hashtag/space?src=hash) exploration...before heading to Mars

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:
забавно, что сигнусы с сервис-модулями

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:
а я думал, что SLS выведет всю конструкцию разом....

ЦитироватьFrank Culbertson, former NASA astronaut and current President of the Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group, advocated for the placement of a permanently crewed four-person cislunar habitat (in lunar orbit) by no later than 2020.

ЦитироватьAccording to Orbital ATK, the habitat concept involves pre-positioning a Cygnus-derived module in lunar orbit using a commercial launch vehicle in 2020.

ЦитироватьКомпания Orbital ATK представила проект лунной станции, запуск которой намечен на 2020 год. Проект реализуется при поддержке НАСА и предназначен для использования при полетах на Марс. Об этом сообщает издание Universe Today.
Лунная орбитальная станция предполагает возможность стыковки с пилотируемым кораблем Orion. НАСА планирует запустить его на орбиту спутника Земли в августе 2021 года с астронавтами на борту. Автономная пилотируемая миссия Orion должна продлиться около трех недель, а с использованием окололунной станции может быть увеличена до 60 суток.
Станцию предполагается строить по модульному принципу, ее базовым элементом станет модифицированный грузовой корабль Cygnus. Этот аппарат разработала и производит Orbital ATK. В настоящее время он используется для доставки грузов на Международную космическую станцию.
Лунная станция в минимальной конфигурации будет представлять собой состыкованные модифицированные модули Cygnus. Инженеры Orbital ATK планируют увеличить объем внутреннего свободного пространства, добиться полной герметичности и повысить радиационную и тепловую защиту.
Модифицированные Cygnus планируется снабдить двигательными установками для маневрирования на окололунной орбите. Работы по изменению существующего корабля могут занять около трех лет, компания не раскрывает стоимости работ. Запуск модулей станции планируется на американских ракетах Atlas V и Delta IV.

ЦитироватьКоля Наумов пишет:
Инженеры Orbital ATK планируют ... добиться полной герметичности

ЦитироватьНАСА планирует запустить его на орбиту спутника Земли в августе 2021 года с астронавтами на борту.

ЦитироватьЗапуск модулей станции планируется на американских ракетах Atlas V и Delta IV.

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
Я говорил про Антарес

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
Я говорил про Антарес

Антарес к Луне никак. Собственно потому и новая ракета.

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
Я говорил про Антарес

Антарес к Луне никак. Собственно потому и новая ракета.

многопуск
а какую ракету имели в виду FH или SLS? или Вулкан.....?

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
казалось что первый пилотируемый перенесли на 2023. А LM и Orbital ATK рисуют 2021

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет: 
казалось что первый пилотируемый перенесли на 2023. А LM и Orbital ATK рисуют 2021

ЦитироватьPaleopulo пишет:
Возможно "ноги" растут из этого сообщения - Orbital ATK Looks to Take Cygnus to the Next Level With NASA's Help (http://www.parabolicarc.com/2015/05/27/orbital-atk-looks-take-cygnus-next-level/)

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Новую твердотопливную пока еще безымянную ракету Орбитала. Мини-Арес-1.

ЦитироватьPaleopulo пишет:

Цитироватьpnetmon   пишет:
казалось что первый пилотируемый перенесли на 2023. А LM и Orbital ATK рисуют 2021

Возможно "ноги" растут из этого сообщения -  Orbital ATK Looks to Take Cygnus to the Next Level With NASA's Help (http://www.parabolicarc.com/2015/05/27/orbital-atk-looks-take-cygnus-next-level/)

ЦитироватьAlex_II пишет:
Что характерно - никто не наезжает на Орбитал за принятие помощи НАСА... В вину это ставят только Маску...

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
Может потому что у Орбитала много покупного из других стран

ЦитироватьAlex_II пишет:

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
Может потому что у Орбитала много покупного из других стран

Ага, у них в этом проекте почти ничего своего...

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
Почему есть и свое, кажется сервисный модуль от ранее используемой спутниковой платформы. Вторая ступень РН кажется тоже своя.

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
Чья например у него система стыковки, откуда взялась.

ЦитироватьPaleopulo пишет:

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
казалось что первый пилотируемый перенесли на 2023. А LM и Orbital ATK рисуют 2021

Возможно "ноги" растут из этого сообщения - Orbital ATK Looks to Take Cygnus to the Next Level With NASA's Help (http://www.parabolicarc.com/2015/05/27/orbital-atk-looks-take-cygnus-next-level/)

ЦитироватьИскандер пишет:
жилую "бочку" большого размера на базе оборудования Dragon-2 сделать много проще, быстрее и пожалуй дешевле.

ЦитироватьИскандер пишет:
Тут другое интересно - Orbital понравилось! Делают средний носитель почти полностью свой - хотят целиком использовать потенциал после слияния. Хотят учавствовать в пилотируемой программе дальнего космоса. Движуха!  :)  

ЦитироватьAlex_II пишет:
Тут другое интересно - Orbital понравилось! Делают средний носитель почти полностью свой - хотят целиком использовать потенциал после слияния.

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Арес-1

ЦитироватьAlex_II пишет:

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Арес-1

Так это по моему еще АТК без Орбитал, не? Или я путаю?

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Так и Либерти тоже. Но дело его живет  :)

Цитировать Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes  (https://twitter.com/pbdes)  4 ч.4 часа назад (https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/752497289189613568)  
Orbital ATK, Thales Alenia Space contract for 9 more Cygnus pressurized cargo freighters for Orbital's NASA CRS-2.
 

Цитироватьhttps://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/space/press-release/thales-alenia-space-signs-contract-orbital-atk-produce-additional-key
 http://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/release.asp?prid=167

Under terms of the agreement, Thales Alenia Space will supply nine additional Pressurized Cargo Modules (PCM) to Orbital ATK for upcoming cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS). The cargo module is designed to transport crew supplies and science experiments on Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. Cygnus recently delivered 7,900 pounds of cargo and science experiments to astronauts aboard the station and successfully completed its fifth mission under the contract. Orbital ATK is scheduled to complete 10 CRS-1 missions to the International Space Station before transitioning to launch cargo logistics missions under the CRS-2 contract in 2019.
....
"Thales Alenia Space has been one of our most reliable and strategic partners in the area of Human Spaceflight," said David Thompson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Orbital ATK. "The pressurized cargo modules developed by Thales Alenia have worked flawlessly to establish Cygnus as a flagship product for cargo resupply missions and as a research platform for science experiments that enable deep space exploration. The enhanced pressure cargo module flown on our last two missions also enabled Cygnus to carry over 50 percent more cargo to NASA, further demonstrating the versatility and flexibility that Cygnus offers to our customers."

The Cygnus spacecraft consists of two basic components: the Service Module (SM) built by Orbital ATK and the Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) developed by Thales Alenia Space. Building on 40 years of experience in space infrastructures and transportation systems, the Cygnus PCM developed by Thales Alenia Space calls on the company's skills and expertise developed through previous programs for the International Space Station, such as the MPLM (Multipurpose Logistics Module), built by the company on behalf of the Italian space agency for NASA, and the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) Cargo Carrier, built by Thales Alenia Space for the European Space Agency.

The new configuration incorporates a number of upgrades as compared to the standard PCM utilized prior to this mission. These include a lighter and more efficient solution for storing and constraining the cargo inside the module, allowing for an increase in the mass and volume of cargo amount able to be transported to the orbiting laboratory. In addition, the new design confirmed the ability to accommodate cargo bags with both irregular shape and stiffness. The improved PCM also accommodates an increased number of middeck lockers as compared to the existing module design which enhances the capability to transport science experiments.....

Цитировать

Сygnus Program Wins Prestigious 2016 AIAA Space Systems Award

 
The Cygnus program has been sel ected to receive the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space Systems Award for 2016. The cargo delivery spacecraft was honored for outstanding achievements in architecture, analysis, design and implementation of space systems.
Orbital ATK and the Cygnus team will be presented with this prestigious award at the mid-September AIAA Space and Astronautics Forum in recognition of the demonstrated success of the program. Orbital ATK launched the first Cygnus spacecraft on September 18, 2013 to perform resupply missions to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. Since then, Cygnus has transported nearly 22,000 pounds of vital cargo and science experiments to astronauts after five missions to the orbiting laboratory.
"The hardworking and dedicated team behind the Cygnus program is what allows Orbital ATK to produce reliable, innovative, and affordable products for our customers," said Frank Culbertson, President of Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group. "Thanks to their efforts, Cygnus has demonstrated success in cargo deliveries to the ISS and as the host to important scientific research. We look forward to our continuing role in furthering human exploration of the solar system."
"Our Cygnus spacecraft is an excellent example of Orbital ATK's reliable, innovative and highly performing products making it a premier vehicle for NASA cargo resupply missions," said Vice President and General Manager of the Advanced Programs Division Frank DeMauro. "Cygnus has always been a team effort, and this award goes to the entire team for their innovation, hard work and dedication in making the Cygnus program a success."

Orbital ATK will fly five more missions under CRS-1 before transitioning to the upcoming CRS-2 contract. The spacecraft has evolved over the years for its customers with demonstrated flexibility and versatility from launch options to increased cargo capability. Cygnus has launched aboard Orbital ATK's Antares medium-class space launch vehicle, as well as United Launch Alliance's Atlas V vehicle. On its most recent mission, OA-6, the spacecraft carried a company record of 7,900 pounds of cargo and science experiments to the International Space Station. Cygnus also flew for the first time on that mission as an in-orbit research platform for scientific experiments that enable deep space exploration.
The Cygnus spacecraft is in impressive company with previous winners of the AIAA Space Systems Award. Past winners include the Herschel and Planck Project Team fr om the European Space Research and Technology Centre, Mr. Michael D. Trela of Skybox Imaging inc., and Surrey Satellite Technologies Ltd's Disaster Monitoring Constellation.

Цитировать Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust  (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust)  45 мин.45 минут назад (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/775811470894313472)  
Steinmeyer: reusability is not always cheaper. On CRS-2, we have lowest $/kg for cargo, even though Cygnus not reused. #AIAASpace (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AIAASpace?src=hash)

Цитировать Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust  (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust)  1 ч.1 час назад (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/791386831338278912)  
At Von Braun Symp. Orbital's Frank DeMauro shows this chart of upcoming Cygnus cargo missions (ignore the error in the OA-5 launch date).
 

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Антарес-330?

ЦитироватьSalo пишет:

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Антарес-330?

Вряд ли это выльется в 150 кг прибавки. Обещали тонну.

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Кроме того какой смысл выпускать новые Антаресы-200, после того как закончатся Антаресы-100 из которых их делают?

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Кроме того какой смысл выпускать новые Антаресы-200, после того как закончатся Антаресы-100 из которых их делают?

Непонятен смысл. Первую ступень уже делают под РД-181. Вторую ступень они производят сами.

-300 если брать что первая цифра это первая ступень, то что это за модификация? Думал что жидкостной двигатель на второй ступени - но тогда должна меняться вторая цифра.

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Кроме того какой смысл выпускать новые Антаресы-200, после того как закончатся Антаресы-100 из которых их делают?

Непонятен смысл. Первую ступень уже делают под РД-181. Вторую ступень они производят сами.

-300 если брать что первая цифра это первая ступень, то что это за модификация? Думал что жидкостной двигатель на второй ступени - но тогда должна меняться вторая цифра.

Антарес-200 это переделка же изготовленных ступеней для Антареса-100 под РД-181. При этом двигатели приходится дросселировать в полёте из за чего теряется около тонны ПН. Антарес-300 это ступень изначально спроектированная под РД-181.

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
А можете уточнить источники

ЦитироватьThe re-engined Antares, while not as powerful as the Atlas 5, will offer increased performance over the earlier version of the Antares. The RD-181 engines provide higher thrust and greater efficiency than the AJ-26 engines, Frick said, increasing the vehicle's payload for ISS missions from 5,800 to 7,000 kilograms. 
Although the engine is more powerful, Frick said Orbital was able to use it on Antares with minimal changes to the overall rocket, primarily in the way the engines are attached to the core structure of the vehicle. "We did not really make any changes to the core," he said. "We just changed how we attach the engines to the core." 
He added that Orbital ATK is looking at future modifications to the rocket to optimize it for the RD-181 engines. Those changes would increase the vehicle's payload capacity for ISS missions by an additional 1,000 kilograms. 

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
Я читал что уже в Украине производят под РД-181, хотя там не говорится как они были изменены.

ЦитироватьOrbital ATK: We need 5 Antares rocket 1st stge cores frm Ukrainian supplier 2015-16. 3 are complete, 2 nearly so. Looks OK for the moment. 

Цитироватьhttps://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/press-release/successful-launch-cygnus-spacecraft

SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH OF CYGNUS SPACECRAFT

18.10.2016
Cygnus cargo carrier, with pressurized cargo module by Thales Alenia Space,  headed for the International Space Station

Cannes, October 18th 2016 –The Cygnus spacecraft was successfully launched (OA-5 Mission) by the Antares launch vehicle to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility based in Virginia. The Cygnus spacecraft comprises two modules: Orbital ATK's Service Module and the Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM), developed and built by Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo-Finmeccanica (33%), for Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA). The PCM cargo-carrying capability is in excess of 3,500 kg (7,716 pounds), including supplies for the crew, spare parts and scientific equipment.

Once the Cygnus spacecraft reaches the International Space Station, it will be captured by the robotic arm and berthed to the Nadir port of Node 1. After the Cygnus spacecraft is detached from Node 1 and completes its mission, it will re-enter the atmosphere, burning up in the process – and taking with it waste from the station that can weigh as much as the original cargo load.

Thales Alenia Space has recently signed a new contract with Orbital ATK regarding the supply of another nine Cygnus PCM pressurized modules; this demonstrates Thales Alenia Space capabilities to fulfil last minute requirements of the ISS re-supply missions. Thales Alenia Space experience and expertise provide support for space exploration through the organisation of missions for the ISS In support of the space exploration.  

The new Cygnus PCM modules will be produced using the new friction welding system, which has been operational at the Turin plant since the end of 2015. These will have an "enhanced" configuration, with an increased transport capacity of over 3,500 kg. The new pressurized modules foresee a series of enhancements compared to the standards used in previous missions; in particular, the new design is a lighter and more efficient solution with regards to the housing of the load-carrying capability of its structure, increasing the load transport capacity, both in terms of mass and volume and allowing it to accommodate irregular-shaped bags. The new modules will be delivered starting in 2017.

About Thales Alenia Space
....

Цитироватьhttps://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/space/press-release/thales-alenia-space-signs-contract-orbital-atk-produce-additional-key
THALES ALENIA SPACE SIGNS CONTRACT WITH ORBITAL ATK TO PRODUCE ADDITIONAL KEY HARWARE FOR UPCOMING CARGO RESUPPLY MISSIONS TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
11.07.2016

Цитировать Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust  (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust)  4 ч.4 часа назад (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/798917706749657089)  
Buzz Aldrin is here, by the way, sitting up front and asking questions about the use of Cygnus as a cislunar hab. #SpaceComExpo (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceComExpo?src=hash)
 
  Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust  (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust)  4 ч.4 часа назад (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/798917291526209537)  
Richards: envision having a Cygnus spending up to a year in orbit after ISS mission to do additional experiments. #SpaceComExpo (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceComExpo?src=hash)

Цитировать"Южмаш" обеспечил отгрузку в США двух первых ступеней РН Antares

ГП "Южный машиностроительный завод им. Макарова" обеспечил отгрузку в интересах американской Orbital ATK Inc. (NYSE: OA) двух основных конструкций первой ступени ракеты-носителя (РН) среднего класса Antares, грузовые рейсы которой к Международной космической станции (МКС) в рамках контракта с NASA возобновлены после проведения модернизации РН со Среднеатлантического регионального космодрома на острове Уоллопс (штат Вирджиния, США) в октябре.

Как сообщили агентству "Интерфакс-Украина" в пресс-службе Государственного космического агентства Украины, в четверг ракеты отгружены с завода в Николаевский порт для отправки к месту старта.

"Приемка изделий заказчиком будет проведена в американском порту в штате Делавэр", - уточнили в космическом ведомстве...

После аварии РН Antares в октябре 2014 года, связанной с неисправностью двигателей AJ26 (модифицированные советские НК-33), американская Orbital ATK приняла решение заменить маршевый двигатель первой ступени. По итогам конкурса для новой версии Antares в качестве двигателей первой ступени были выбраны российские кислородно-керосиновые двигатели РД-181 (экспортная версия РД-191) производства НПО "Энергомаш". Украинские специалисты обеспечили замену и увязку новых двигателей первой ступени при минимальном изменении базовой конфигурации ракеты.

До конца 2018 года в рамках программы планируется совершить пять пусков РН Antares, с 2019 по 2024 год – еще шесть...

ЦитироватьLiss пишет:
http://interfax.com.ua/news/economic/387915.html

ЦитироватьДо конца 2018 года в рамках программы планируется совершить пять пусков РН Antares, с 2019 по 2024 год – еще шесть...

ЦитироватьБорис Лучников пишет:

ЦитироватьLiss пишет:
 http://interfax.com.ua/news/economic/387915.html

ЦитироватьДо конца 2018 года в рамках программы планируется совершить пять пусков РН Antares, с 2019 по 2024 год – еще шесть...

"До конца 2018 года...", т.е. в течении 2 лет - 5 пусков и в течении 5 лет - 6 пусков. А чем вызвано такое сокращение - сворачиванием проекта?

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
А сколько было произведено пусков и запланированно на момент октября 2014 года ?
Остальные 6 - это выполнение контракта с НАСА (в новости указано - грузовые рейсы которой к Международной космической станции (МКС) в рамках контракта с NASA ), а может быть и больше....

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Скорее всего это не все пуски CRS2. Кроме того они говорили, что интерес к ракете есть, но потенциальные клиенты хотят посмотреть как она будет летать.

ЦитироватьБорис Лучников пишет:

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Скорее всего это не все пуски CRS2. Кроме того они говорили, что интерес к ракете есть, но потенциальные клиенты хотят посмотреть как она будет летать.

Т.е. её запуски хотят переводить на коммерческую основу?

А какая масса выводимой нагрузки с РД-181? Я не очень следил, но как я понимаю теперь весь корабль изменили и он стал больше и тяжелее. И интересно - есть ли перспектива его применения в проекте коммерческой орбитальной станции после МКС. Кажется проект назвали Альфа

Цитироватьhttp://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/mag/2016/2632/32861/
16 декабря 2014 г. с Orbital был заключен контракт стоимостью 224.5 млн $ на поставку 20 экземпляров РД-181 с возможностью закупки 40 дополнительных двигателей по 31 декабря 2021 г.

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
Я бы задался вопросом куда им столько двигателей- одна из версий написания

Цитироватьhttp://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/mag/2016/2632/32861/
16 декабря 2014 г. с Orbital был заключен контракт стоимостью 224.5 млн $ на поставку 20 экземпляров РД-181 с возможностью закупки 40 дополнительных двигателей по 31 декабря 2021 г.

(читая новости кажется что первая партия намного меньше 20 т.к. в этом году писали о опционах)
В текущем контракте CRS2 с большей вероятностью прописаны не все запуски в рамках этого контракта, т.к. в рамках CRS1 было увеличение.
Увеличение корабля было запланировано до смены двигателей первой ступени.
Альфа это было раннее название МКС.

ЦитироватьБорис Лучников пишет:
А 40 двигателей - это еще 20 ракет. Это если не на 10 лет, так на 7-8 при такой частоте пусков.

ЦитироватьСтарт грузового корабля Cygnus к МКС откладывается
ВАШИНГТОН, 11 мар – РИА Новости.

Спойлер

Старт космического корабля Cygnus с грузом для МКС состоится не раньше 21 марта, задержка вызвана выявленной неполадкой в гидравлической системе ракеты-носителя, сообщила компания — владелец ракеты United Launch Alliance.
Ранее сообщалось, что запуск грузовика состоится 19 марта в 22.56 (5.56 мск 20 марта).
"Старт ракеты Atlas V с седьмой грузовой миссией (к МКС) корабля Cygnus для компании Orbital ATK и NASA состоится не раньше 21 марта из-за проблемы с гидравликой ускорителя, выявленной в ходе достартовых испытаний", — сообщила ULA.
"Дополнительное время позволит заменить деталь и завершить подготовку к старту", — добавили в компании.
Orbital ATK не использует для предстоящего старта собственную ракету Antares из-за большей грузоподъемностью Atlas V.

[свернуть]

Полеты Cygnus на Antares прекратились после катастрофы 2014 году. После аварии Antares была модернизирована за счет оснащения российскими двигателями РД-181. Первый полет обновленной ракеты-носителя состоялся в октябре 2016 года, РН осуществила успешный запуск грузовика Cygnus к МКС.
Ожидается, что полеты Orbital ATK на собственной ракете Antares, оснащенной российскими двигателями РД-181, возобновятся в середине 2017 года.

ЦитироватьMichelle‏ @spacechelle (https://twitter.com/spacechelle)  8 ч.8 часов назад (https://twitter.com/spacechelle/status/913279192451530752)

Global Networking Forum presentation from @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) Frank Culbertson about the company's Space logistics future #IAC2017 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/IAC2017?src=hash)


Michelle‏ @spacechelle (https://twitter.com/spacechelle)  8 ч.8 часов назад (https://twitter.com/spacechelle/status/913280017076908033)

An overview of @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) Space Systems Group starts off the talk from SSG President & #Astronaut (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astronaut?src=hash) (retired) Frank Culbertson #IAC2017 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/IAC2017?src=hash)


Michelle‏ @spacechelle (https://twitter.com/spacechelle)  8 ч.8 часов назад (https://twitter.com/spacechelle/status/913280734961397760)

Talking #Cygnus (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cygnus?src=hash) @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) preparing for next launch in November. Will be aboard #Antares (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Antares?src=hash) but can also launch on @ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) Atlas #IAC2017 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/IAC2017?src=hash)


Michelle‏ @spacechelle (https://twitter.com/spacechelle)  8 ч.8 часов назад (https://twitter.com/spacechelle/status/913281218812141569)

#Cygnus (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cygnus?src=hash) does more than just provide cargo, experiments can be installed directly into Cygnus & science done after leaving #ISS (https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISS?src=hash) #IAC2017 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/IAC2017?src=hash)


Michelle‏ @spacechelle (https://twitter.com/spacechelle)  8 ч.8 часов назад (https://twitter.com/spacechelle/status/913281615366733824)

Expanding capabilities of #Cygnus (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cygnus?src=hash) -possibility of being a free flyer that can stay in orbit for a year to do microgravity research #IAC2017 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/IAC2017?src=hash)


Michelle‏ @spacechelle (https://twitter.com/spacechelle)  8 ч.8 часов назад (https://twitter.com/spacechelle/status/913283175664590850)

The @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) will have several capability options for their customers #IAC2017 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/IAC2017?src=hash) #Future (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Future?src=hash) #SpaceTravel (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceTravel?src=hash)


Michelle‏ @spacechelle (https://twitter.com/spacechelle)  8 ч.8 часов назад (https://twitter.com/spacechelle/status/913283667467710465)

Remember every dollar or ruble spent on space is spent down here on Earth But the greatest thing we've done is create collaboration #IAC2017 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/IAC2017?src=hash)



Michelle‏ @spacechelle (https://twitter.com/spacechelle)  8 ч.8 часов назад (https://twitter.com/spacechelle/status/913284146335584256)

But don't just keep creating & collaborating, keep inspiring the next generation & bring them into the space community - Culbertson #IAC2017 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/IAC2017?src=hash)

Цитировать

Компания Orbital ATK обнародовала свои финансовые показатели за 2017 год. Согласно представленному отчету:

1. Объем выручки компании составил $4764 млн. (рост 6.9%)

2. Бэклог компании составил $5,840 млн. 

3. От работы на космическом сегменте рынка компания получила $1284 млн (в 2016 году этот показатель был равен $1238 млн.). 

К наиболее важным событиям 2017 года компания отнесла:

1. Запуск РН Антарес, которая доставила к МКС ГТК Cygnus. 

2. Поставки композитных конструкций в интересах производства РН Атлас-5 и Дельта-2. 

3. Работы по созданию твердотопливных конструкций в интересах НАСА и РН серии СЛС. 

4. Производство около 315 млн. патронов различного калибра и 100 тыс. двигателя для ракеты Hellfire II. 

5. Производство 5000 высокоточных минометных и артиллерийских снарядов.

ЦитироватьAUDIT OF COMMERCIAL RESUPPLY SERVICES TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION 

April 26, 2018

Цитироватьtnt22 цитирует:

ЦитироватьJeff Foust ‏ @jeff_foust 15:12 - 17 мая 2018 г. (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/997132751760392192)

George Nield at ASAP: Cygnus will conduct a short burn while at ISS to demonstrate reboost. If successful, open up a lot of additional options for end-of-life planning.

Цитироватьhttp://www.interfax.ru/world/613710
09:23, 22 мая 2018
Орбиту МКС в июле впервые поднимет американский космический грузовик

Москва. 22 мая. INTERFAX.RU - Американский космический грузовик Cygnus в июле впервые в истории "приподнимет" орбиту Международной космической станции (МКС), сообщил "Интерфаксу" источник в ракетно-космической отрасли.

"Американский грузовой корабль Cygnus, стартовавший 21 мая, в июле впервые выполнит тестовый подъем орбиты МКС. Он состоится в период с 10 по 15 июля - между стыковкой российского грузового корабля Прогресс МС-09 и расстыковкой Cygnus", - сказал источник.

По его словам, если испытания пройдут удачно, коррекция орбиты будет производиться поочередно российскими и американскими кораблями.

В последние три года маневры МКС выполнялись исключительно российскими средствами - грузовыми кораблями "Прогресс" и модулем "Звезда".

ЦитироватьWhat's more, this one year or more on-orbit capability would also give Cygnus the ability to take experiments off of the International Space Station, give them a pristine microgravity environment, and then fly them back to the Station so that they could be returned to Earth on another vehicle or studied by the crew on orbit.

Цитата: Sembler от 05.08.2023 01:03:48Общая тема про Cygnus где-то глубоко, поэтому пишу сюда.
https://aboutspacejornal.net/2023/08/03/%D0%B2-northrop-grumman-%D0%BF%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%80%D1%83%D1%8E%D1%82-%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%84%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C-%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BB/#google_vignette
... Компания Northrop Grumman планирует улучшения для своего грузового космического корабля Cygnus...  чтобы обеспечить поддержку как Международной космической станции, так и будущих коммерческих космических станций...
В текущей версии Cygnus может перевозить около 3750 килограммов груза на станцию. В разрабатываемой улучшенной версии эта грузоподъемность будет увеличена до 5000 килограммов

Цитата: Patron от 26.03.2024 16:50:14Как-то незаметно для "общественности" ТГК Cygnus прошел существенную модернизацию: увеличен ресурс полета корабля в составе МКС до 165 суток (для миссии NG-20)  с последующем увеличением этого параметра до 365 суток - что прямо свидетельствует о готовности данного корабля к проведению динамических операций в составе МКС (подъем орбиты, управление ориентацией - маршевый двигатель корабля получил необходимую "подвижность" для этих целей). С учётом грядущей пересадки корабля Cygnus на новую ракету-носитель Antares 330 в следующем, 2025 году, дополнительным увеличением объема ГрО на дополнительные 1,5 куб.метра и, как следствие, увеличением массы доставляемого ПГ до 5000 кг, нельзя не заметить, что у данного ТГК совсем неплохие перспективы после завершения Программы МКС.