NASA and Orbital ATK [OA] hope Monday will be the night the re-engined Antares launches toward the International Space Station (ISS) following a number of delays.
NASA and Orbital ATK wanted to launch on Sunday but postponed the mission for 24 hours due to a ground support equipment cable that did not perform as expected during the pre-launch check out, according to NASA. Monday’s launch from Wallops Island, Va., is slated for 7:40 p.m. EDT. Orbital ATK said on Twitter at 11:26 a.m. EDT that weather was 100 percent go for launch. Liquid oxygen loading system chill down was underway at 1:15 p.m. EDT while avionics system checks were in process.
Launch was originally scheduled for Thursday, but was pushed to Friday due to Hurricane Matthew contingencies and an issue with a fastener. The mission, when it takes place, will be the first mission for Antares since a late 2014 anomaly that severely damaged the pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island. It will also feature Antares’ first mission with a RD-181 engine in place of an AJ-26. The mission will deliver food and supplies to ISS as part of a NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program.