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NASA
Orbital Sciences Corp. lights up the engines on its Antares rocket for a hot-fire test at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia on Friday.
By Tariq Malik
Space.com
Orbital Sciences Corp. has successfully tested the engines for a new private rocket designed to send cargo to the International Space Station.
The Virginia-based company test-fired the first-stage engines of its new Antares rocket for 30 seconds Friday night at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Va. NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, also based on the island, supported the so-called static fire engine test, which involved having the Antares rocket fire its engines without leaving the launch pad.
"This pad test is an important reminder of how strong and diverse the commercial space industry is in our nation," Phil McAlister, director of commercial spaceflight development at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement released after the test. "A little more than one year after the retirement of the space shuttle, we had a U.S company resupplying the space station, and another is now taking the next critical steps to launch from America’s newest gateway to low-Earth orbit."
Orbital Sciences is one of two private spaceflight companies with billion-dollar NASA contracts to provide unmanned cargo delivery missions to the International Space Station. Under its $1.9 billion contract, Orbital Sciences will make at least eight delivery flights to the space station using its Antares rocket and robotic Cygnus spacecraft. The first Antares rocket test flight is expected later this year. [Antares Rocket and Cygnus Explained (Infographic)]
California-based SpaceX is the other company with a NASA contract for unmanned space station deliveries. SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract to fly at least 12 missions to the space station using its Dragon space capsules and Falcon 9 rocket. The company launched both a test flight and a bona fide delivery mission to the space station in 2012. The second delivery flight under the contract is slated to launch on March 1.
An animation shows how Orbital Sciences Corp.'s unmanned Antares-Cygnus launch system would be used to resupply the International Space Station.
With NASA's retirement of the space shuttle fleet in 2011, the space agency is relying on new private rockets and spacecraft to ferry cargo — and eventually astronauts — to and from low-Earth orbit. NASA is currently dependent on Russia, Europe and Japan for cargo deliveries to the space station. Russia's Soyuz spacecraft are the only vehicles currently available to ferry astronauts to and from the station.
Friday's engine test marked Orbital's second attempt to check the Antares rocket's dual AJ26 rocket engines, which are designed to provide 680,000 pounds of thrust. A first attempt on Feb. 13 was aborted before engine ignition due to a "low pressurization" detection during a nitrogen purge in the rocket's aft engine compartment, Orbital officials said.
The test took place at Pad-0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, which is located on the eastern shore of Virginia. It set the stage for a full-up flight test of the Antares rocket, and then a demonstration flight as part of Orbital's contract under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, also known as COTS.
"Following the successful completion of the COTS demonstration mission to the station, Orbital will begin regular cargo resupply flights to the orbiting laboratory through NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract," NASA Wallops officials said.
This report was updated by NBC News Digital. You can follow Space.com managing editor Tariq Malik on Twitter @tariqjmalik. Follow Space.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+.
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This, boys and girls, is how it is done... one step at a time (and each step gets bigger).
They have the great advantage of lots of previous "steps", some made at great price. Hope they can leverage that knowledge.
A couple of things to keep in mind here. The booster that was hot-fired yesterday is not the same one scheduled to fly the first launch towards ISS in a few weeks. Different birds. The Antares booster uses surplus Soviet Union NK-33 moon rocket engines that are over 45 years old, refurbished and renamed by AeroJet.
When Orbital finally flies a real mission to ISS with its Cygnus cargo vehicle launched by Antares, the American taxpayer will be paying nearly twice as much for a one-way flight to ISS than it does for the All-American SpaceX Falcon-Dragon cargo missions. The stated costs for the missions as contracted by NASA are $ 237 million for an Antares- Cygnus mission , vs. $ 133 million for a Falcon-Dragon. The spread is even more disparate when you realize that Dragon actually returns cargo from orbit, a crucial capability. In fact, the next Dragon launched to ISS ( about a week from now if all goes well ) will bring back 1000 pounds more cargo than it took up. Cygnus vehicles are trashed on reentry...they can only haul up , not down. Dragons might actually be refurbished and reused.
The Bottom Line is Orbital Science's Antares-Cygnus program costs do not pencil out well...
THe NK-33's required significant modification to meet current US standards. So they aren't exactly off-the-shelf.
Aerojet has complete design documentation, and acquired the rights to produce new AJ-26's also. A likely scenario should Antares prove to be highly reliable. AJ-26 has higher Isp at all altitudes than Merlin 1D. Aerojet could eventually win the SLS advanced booster competition too.
...just not ready to dismiss any commercial providers at this early stage of competition. They all have their own advantages. That's how they made it this far thru NASA's trials.
Good luck to all COTS and CCiCap providers!
I must admit I miss the days when each step of the space program was a new opportunity to feel a sense of pride in the USA and American ingenuity and craftsmanship. I'm glad the test went well and I hope the mission succeeds, but it's just not the same. As commercialism kicks in deeper, the business of providing launch services will get more competitive with contracts going to the lowest bidder. Eventually launch vehicles will be assembled from parts made in the lowest cost countries and launched from wherever its cheapest. Whoopee.
Not as likely as you might think Joe. International Traffic in Arms Regulations - ITAR - puts a clamp down on such free-wheeling international trade of aerospace and defense related hardware.
It looks to me as if SPACE X is well on its way to being the #1 commercial space hauler to the I.S.S. ,as well as more ambitious plans for the future. As long as SAFTEY is held just as important as cost,thier the ones to catch.Step by step, mission by mission,......UNIVERSE here we come!