Antares A-ONE (original) (raw)

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2013 American test spaceflight

Antares A-ONE

The Antares 110 lifts off at the start of the mission
Names	Simulated Cygnus Payload[1]
Mission type	Flight test
Operator	Orbital Sciences Corporation
COSPAR ID	2013-016A
SATCAT no.	39142
Mission duration	18 days, 3 hours, 57 minutes

Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Cygnus mass simulator
Manufacturer	Orbital Sciences Corporation
Launch mass	3,800 kg (8,400 lb)
Dimensions	5.061 m × 2.896 m (16.60 ft × 9.50 ft)

Start of mission
Launch date	21 April 2013, 21:00:00 (2013-04-21UTC21Z) UTC (5:00 pm EDT)[2][3]
Rocket	Antares 110 [4]
Launch site	MARS, Pad 0A

End of mission
Disposal	Deorbited
Decay date	10 May 2013, 00:57 (2013-05-10UTC00:58Z) UTC[5]

Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit [6]
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	223 km (139 mi)[5]
Apogee altitude	237 km (147 mi)[5]
Inclination	51.63°[5]

Orbital Sciences insigniaCommercial Orbital Transportation Services← SpaceX COTS Demo 2 Cygnus Orb-D1 →

Antares A-ONE mission was the maiden flight of Orbital Sciences Corporation' Antares launch vehicle including the ascent to space and accurate delivery of a simulated payload, the Cygnus Mass Simulator (CMS), which was launched 21 April 2013.[6] It was launched from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.[6] The simulated payload simulates the mass of the Cygnus cargo spacecraft.[6] This dummy payload was sent into an orbit of 223 km × 237 km (139 mi × 147 mi) with an orbital inclination of 51.63°, the same launch profile it will use for Orbital's Cygnus cargo supply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA.

This launch along with several other activities leading up to it, are paid milestones under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.[7]

The primary payload was the Cygnus Mass Simulator. It had a height of 5.061 m (16.60 ft), a diameter of 2.896 m (9 ft 6.0 in) and a mass of 3,800 kg (8,400 lb).[8] It was equipped with 22 accelerometers, 2 microphones, 12 digital thermometers, 24 thermocouples and 12 strain gages.[8]

The secondary payloads were four CubeSats that were deployed from the CMS.[8] Three of them were PhoneSats, 1U CubeSats built by NASA's Ames Research Center.[8] These were named Alexander, Graham and Bell, after the Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone.[8] The purpose of these three satellites was to demonstrate the use of smartphones as avionics in CubeSats.[8] They each had a mass of 1,124 kg (2,478 lb) and were powered by lithium batteries.[8] The fourth nanosat was a 3U CubeSat, called Dove-1, built by Cosmogia Inc. It carried a "technology development Earth imagery experiment" using the Earth's magnetic field for attitude control.[8][10]

Lift off of the Antares launch vehicle occurs two seconds after the first stage engines are ignited
The first stage engines shut off 228 seconds after lift-off
At 233 seconds, the first stage separates from the second
At 317 seconds, the payload fairing is jettisoned
At 326 seconds, the second stage's engine is ignited
At 481 seconds, the second stage is shut off
At 601 seconds, the Cygnus Mass Simulator separates [6]

Note: Times are local to the launch site (Eastern Daylight Time).

Attempt	Planned	Result	Turnaround	Reason	Decision point	Weather go (%)	Notes
1	17 Apr 2013, 5:00:00 pm	Scrubbed	—	Technical	17 Apr 2013, 4:44 pm (T−12:00)	60[11]	Premature disconnect of upper stage umbilical cable during T−12:00 hold.[12]
2	20 Apr 2013, 6:10:00 pm	Scrubbed	3 days 1 hour 10 minutes	Weather	20 Apr 2013, 4:30 pm	90	[13]
3	21 Apr 2013, 5:00:00 pm	Success	0 days 22 hours 50 minutes	80	First flight of Antares.[14]