NASA has asked commercial partner Orbital ATK to set aside its Antares rocket for the company’s next mission to the International Space Station and instead fly cargo on an Atlas V rocket — the premier vehicle of the United Launch Alliance. The move is aimed at getting more cargo to the ISS in early 2017, since the Atlas V has a greater lift capability than the Antares.
THE ANTARES RETURNED TO FLIGHT JUST LAST MONTH
It’s an ironic decision since the Antaressuccessfully returned to flight just last month. The rocket had been grounded for the past two years, after a previous version of the vehicle exploded in a spectacular fireball during a launch in October 2014. The accident prompted Orbital ATK to do an intense refurbishment of the Antares, and the updated rocket performed a flawless first launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia three weeks ago.
The rocket will be sidelined only temporarily, however. Orbital ATK will launch its Cygnus cargo capsule on top of an Atlas V rocket this spring from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The company’s remaining four cargo missions in 2017 and 2018 will be done with the Antares in Virginia. "With five Antares launches from October 2016 through 2018, together with the Atlas V rocket, this plan represents the company’s commitment to establishing schedules that are realistic and achievable," Orbital ATK said in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that NASA was interested in the Atlas V, and the agency confirmed the switch today to The Verge. "We mutually agreed with Orbital ATK to use an Atlas V for the company's seventh contracted cargo resupply mission to the space station in the spring," NASA told The Verge in a statement.