Orbital’s Antares rocket has launched its first Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission, lofting the Cygnus spacecraft on a mission to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. The launch of ORB-1/CRS-1 from Orbital’s Wallops Island base occurred at the opening of the launch window, at 1:07 pm Eastern (18:07 UTC).
Early this morning, Orbital Sciences Corp. decided to scrub today’s launch attempt of the Antares rocket and the Cygnus cargo spacecraft on the company’s first resupply mission to the International Space Station due to an unusually high level of space radiation that exceeded constraints imposed on Antares. (solar X-class flare)
If a launch can be scheduled for Thursday, the targeted launch time would be 1:10 p.m. EST, with Cygnus arriving at the ISS Sunday morning, Jan. 12, for a grapple at 6:02 a.m. EST. If a launch can be conducted Thursday, NASA TV coverage would begin at 12:45 p.m. EST.
Orbital Sciences Commercial Resupply Launch
Mission: Orbital 1 Commercial Resupply Services flight
Launch Vehicle: Antares
Launch Site: Wallops Flight Facility
Launch Pad: Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A
NET Jan. 8, 2014 Jan 9, 2014
Description: Orbital 1 will be the first commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station by Orbital Sciences.