Orbital ATK [OA] has again pushed back the debut of its re-engined Antares rocket in a NASA Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) mission, this time to Sunday, according to a NASA statement.
NASA cited preparing for Tropical Storm Nicole as the reason for the delay. As the spacecraft’s trajectory on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) takes it from Wallops and past Bermuda on its flight into orbit, the Bermuda tracking station provides downrange tracking, telemetry and flight termination support. NASA said Tropical Storm Nicole is expected to reach Bermuda as a hurricane on Thursday.
After the storm system has passed Bermuda, the Wallops team will conduct a damage assessment, perform mission readiness testing and bring the site back up to operational status.
“The ability to support a launch will depend on the impact the storm has not only on our systems, but also, the overall Bermuda infrastructure,” Steven Kremer, chief of the Wallops range and mission management office, said in a statement.
Orbital ATK said Monday on Twitter it was delaying the CRS mission, called OA-5, until Friday, citing its Antares and Cygnus capsule teams encountering and resolving a minor vehicle processing issue over the weekend. Orbital ATK spokeswoman Trina Helquist said the company had a small issue with a fastener, which was repaired. Orbital ATK also cited time spent planning for Hurricane Matthew contingencies as a reason for the delay.
The mission, when it takes place, will be the first mission for Antares since a late 2014 anomaly that severely damaged the pad at MARS. It will also feature Antares’ first mission with a RD-181 engine in place of an AJ-26.