Orbital ATK to Resume Antares Rocket Launches in September; Frank Culbertson Comments

Orbital ATK plans to launch its Cygnus spacecraft aboard its upgraded Antares 230 rocket in September as part of the company’s eighth cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station under NASA‘s Commercial Resupply Services contract, Space News reported Monday.

“The launch date on the manifest now is September the 12th,” Frank Culbertson, president of Orbital ATK’s space systems group, said Monday during a briefing at the space agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

“We’re prepared to launch as early as late July, really, if need be,” he added.

OA-8 will be the second Antares 230 rocket launch from Wallops following the sixth cargo delivery mission to the ISS in October 2016.

Culbertson noted that the company intends to use the Antares 230 rocket as a launch vehicle for four remaining CRS-1 missions and six missions under the CRS-2 contract with NASA.

The announcement came a day after Orbital ATK completed its seventh ISS cargo delivery mission that launched in April.