Home » Antares Rocket To Blast Off July 11 With Cargo For ISS

Antares Rocket To Blast Off July 11 With Cargo For ISS

By  //  July 8, 2014

WILL LAUNCH FROM NASA'S WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY

ABOVE VIDEO: Tune in to SpaceCoastDaily.com to watch the live stream of Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft which will deliver cargo and crew supplies to the International Space Station. The live stream will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday, June 11.

Launching aboard an Antares rocket at 1:40 p.m. on Friday, July 11 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft will deliver cargo and crew supplies to the International Space Station.

Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Antares rocket for the Orb-2 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station is lifted onto the Transporter/Erector/Launcher (TEL). The stage one core for the next mission, Orb-3, is on the left. Orbital is scheduled to launch its Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the space station on July 11 from the Mid-Atlantic Spaceport’s Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. (NASA.gov image)
Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Antares rocket for the Orb-2 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station is lifted onto the Transporter/Erector/Launcher (TEL). The stage one core for the next mission, Orb-3, is on the left. Orbital is scheduled to launch its Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the space station on July 11 from the Mid-Atlantic Spaceport’s Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. (NASA.gov image)

Live coverage of the launch on NASA Television begins at 1 p.m. Rendezvous and grapple of Cygnus with the space station is scheduled for Tuesday, July 15 at approximately 7:24 a.m.

The Cygnus will be filled with more than 3,000 pounds of supplies for the station, including science experiments to expand the research capability of the Expedition 40 crew members aboard the orbiting laboratory, crew provisions, spare parts and experiment hardware.

Orb-2 cargo-360
The Cygnus will be filled with more than 3,000 pounds of supplies for the station, including science experiments to expand the research capability of the Expedition 40 crew members aboard the orbiting laboratory, crew provisions, spare parts and experiment hardware. (NASA.gov image)

Among the research investigations headed to the space station aboard Orbital-2 are a flock of nanosatellites that are designed to take images of Earth, developed by Planet Labs of San Francisco; and a satellite-related investigation called TechEdSat-4 built by NASA’s Ames Research Center in California, which aims to develop technology that will eventually enable small samples to be returned to Earth from the space station.

In addition, a host of student experiments are being flown in association with the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program, an initiative of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education and NanoRacks.

This and future commercial cargo resupply flights will ensure a robust national capability to deliver critical science research to orbit, significantly increasing NASA’s ability to conduct new science investigations to the only laboratory in microgravity.