Darwin McDaniel
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket is now positioned at the launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia for a scheduled launch Thursday, Spaceflight Now reported Tuesday.
The launch vehicle will carry the company’s Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station for a resupply mission.
Cygnus will deliver food supplies, crew provisions and multiple payloads to the ISS, including a 3D printer and recycler built by Tethers Unlimited.
Operators made final connections between Antares’ transporter-erector and the launch pad’s power, data and propellant supplies on Tuesday. Closeouts and testing of the countdown are scheduled for Nov. 14.
Northrop will mark the upcoming Cygnus mission as the 11th launch of the spacecraft to the ISS and its first flight after the company acquired Orbital ATK.
NASA currently has an 11-launch, $2.9B contract with Orbital. Northrop hopes to secure a follow-on commercial resupply services contract in 2019, which will guarantee the company at least six additional flights through 2024.
