#orb3

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

In the wee hours of tomorrow, specifically at 12:09am, Roscosmos will launch a Progress resupply craft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The mission is designated M-25M, and will ride into orbit on a 6-hour fast track trajectory to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz 2.1a rocket. This will be Progress’ first ride atop a Soyuz 2, a 21st century upgraded edition of the venerable launch vehicle, which replaces Soviet-era analogue control systems for digital ones. Soyuz 2 comes in 3 flavors: 2.1a, which is primarily used for Low Earth Orbit missions, 2.1b with an upgraded upper stage engine which is frequently used for launches to geosynchronous orbit, and 2.1v, a light-class launcher without strap-on boosters and a dramatically redesigned core stage.

A Russian Progress resupply craft in orbit. Credit: NASA

This will be the 57th Progress vehicle launched in support of the International Space Station, and the 25th since a major upgrade of its avionics systems. Progress was originally designed to support the Soviet Union’s Salyut space stations, and has continued to retain its crucial role in space station resupply through the Mir and now International Space Station programs. Since its inception, progress rode to orbit aboard the Soyuz-U rocket, a family which is showing signs of further phase-out now that Progress has got a new ride. A descendant of the Soyuz-U, the Soyuz-FG, currently launches cosmonauts and astronauts to the ISS, but Roscosmos has stated the goal of moving all crewed launches to the Soyuz 2 rocket by 2016.

The launch follows closely on the heels of the regrettable loss of an American cargo vehicle, the Cygnus Orb-3 mission, designated the SS Deke Slayton. Orb-3’s launch vehicle, the Antares 130 rocket, suffered a catastrophic failure just seconds after takeoff. The entire stack then succumbed to the overwhelming force of the Earth’s gravity and came crashing back onto (or was purposefully destroyed right above) its launch pad. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the explosion, and Orbital Sciences officials have stated they are containing the resulting fire and will launch a full investigation into the mishap tomorrow. There is no worry about crew provisions, as the ISS keeps about 4 months of cargo on hand, and there are plenty of visiting vehicles, including tonight’s Progress, scheduled to visit the station until Antares/Cygnus is ready to fly again. When that will be is currently unclear. Cygnus’ Orb-4 mission was originally scheduled for next April, but Orbital has said they will not be able to provide a firm return to flight date until the pending investigation into the anomaly and damage to launch assets is completed.

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

Today on Monday, Oct 27 at about 3:45pm Pacific Time, Orbital Sciences will launch its third out of eight official resupply mission for the International Space Station from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, off the coast of Virginia. The 133ft tall light-medium class Antares rocket is all set to carry Orbital’s Cygnus cargo craft on to a scheduled meet-up with the orbiting laboratory on November 2nd with about 5,000 pounds of experiments and supplies. There it will remain until December 4th, when it will undock from the station and will be directed to burn up in a disposal trajectory ahead of the arrival of the next SpaceX Dragon mission.

Twas the night before launch... @OrbitalSciences #Antares rocket will launch Monday at 6:45pm ET from @NASA_Wallops pic.twitter.com/EupSaBh9ak

— NASA Social (@NASASocial)

October 27, 2014

The Antares rocket used for this mission is debuting its 130 configuration, utilizing a more powerful upper stage called the Castor 30XL. Since its first launch last year, the Antares launch system has used solid-fueled motors for its upper stages built by ATK. The first two launches, a demo mission of the rocket and a later demonstration of the Cygnus cargo ship, used the 110 configuration which had a smaller Castor 30A upper stage. The next two, Orb-1 in January and Orb-2 in June of this year utilized the 120 configruation, with an improved Castor 30B. This newest configuration bumps up Antares’ payload capacity significantly, opening the door for a more capable Enhanced Cygnus vehicle, which is set to debut next April.

Comparison of current Cygnus and Enhanced Cygnus, to debut next April. Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation

Today’s launch was delayed from earlier in the month, originally due to an ongoing investigation into a failure of an AJ-26 engine that was being tested out for a future Antares launch in May. The AJ-26 is an “Americanized” version of the Russian NK-33 engine, all of which were originally built for the Soviet N1 moon rocket program in the 1970’s. Two of them provide the 700,000 pounds of thrust that powers the first stage of Antares. Aerojet-Rocketdyne, the company that sells the engine, purchased their current stock from Russia in the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union spurred American investment in left-over Soviet technologies. The kerosene-burning NK-33s are brilliant in design, but the age of the engines manufactured in a bygone era has proven to be an issue.

A comparison of Saturn V and Soviet N1 rocket. N1 used 30 NK-33 engines in its first stage. Antares can loft up to 6,000 kg with just two. Credit: Ebs08

Since the engines have been out of production for years, recent concerns about the age of the hardware have only hastened Orbital’s urgency in selecting a replacement for their first stage engine. Earlier in the year, the company said it was considering a number of options, from restarting NK-33 engine production in Russia, to utilizing the RD-180 engine currently used by United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, even to moving to a solid first stage, which would make Antares an all-solid rocket. Earlier this month, Orbital announced they’ve selected a replacement for the NK-33, but would not give any details on the make, since they are currently in a bidding process for NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services Contract 2 missions, which would supply the ISS between 2016 and 2024.