Third time’s the charm for Antares rocket

We were all set to observe first-hand the launch of the Orbital Sciences-produced Antares rocket last week, but the vicissitudes of flight rules led to scrubs on both the first and second launch attempts. Sometimes that's just how it goes (at least the abort didn't come 1.9 seconds before launch like it did on STS-68). The first launch attempt was thwarted by a cable disconnecting before it should have and the second was done in by high winds; the third launch attempt, at 17:00 EDT on Sunday, April 21, was successful.

The Antares rocket on the pad at MARS.

Orbital Sciences

The rocket, Antares A-ONE, carried a mass simulator payload into low Earth orbit of 150 by 160 miles (241 x 257 km) at 51.6° inclination. This is the same orbital inclination as the International Space Station; the Antares test flight is intended to demonstrate the rocket's ability to deliver the Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft to the ISS, which will be used to ferry supplies to and from the station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract.

Prior to the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet, a large amount of cargo was transported to and from the ISS using one of three Multipurpose Logistics Modules (MPLMs), named Leonardo, Raffaello, and Donatello (and, yes, the MPLM program patch looked exactly like you'd expect). In the post-shuttle era, NASA has opened up station resupply to willing commercial entities, like Orbital Sciences.