spacetoday.net: Antares rolled out to Wallops launch pad

Posted: Tue, Oct 2, 2012, 5:04 AM ET (0904 GMT)
Antares pathfinder rolled out to pad (OSC)

Orbital Sciences Corporation formally began operations at Virginia's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Monday by rolling out an Antares rocket stage to the launch pad. the Antares first stage will be used for tests on the launch pad, including a hot-fire test of the rocket's AJ26 rocket engines in four to five weeks. That test will be followed in about a month by the first Antares launch, carrying a demonstration payload. Orbital developed the Antares rocket and the Cygnus spacecraft to transport cargo to the International Space Station under a COTS award from NASA; Orbital also has a contract for eight cargo missions to the ISS. Handover of the new launch pad at MARS, located on Wallops Island, Virginia, had been delayed by months in order to complete work on the new launch facility.