spacetoday.net: Orbital sets date for first Cygnus mission to ISS

Posted: Tue, May 7, 2013, 6:25 AM ET (1025 GMT)
Antares launch on A-ONE mission (J. Foust)

Orbital Sciences Corporation announced Monday that it plans to launch its first Cygnus cargo mission to the International Space Station in August or September. The company said it added three or four weeks to the schedule for the mission in order to replace one of two AJ26 engines in the first stage of the Antares rocket that will launch the spacecraft. The launch must also be coordinated with a planned Japanese HTV cargo mission to the station. If the HTV mission remains on schedule, Cygnus will launch in September, but if the HTV mission is delayed the Cygnus launch could move up to August. Orbital officials also confirmed that the inaugural launch of the Antares rocket last month, which carried a test payload and several smallsats, performed as expected.