Cygnus CRS OA-11
| Mission type | ISS resupply |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Enhanced Cygnus |
| Manufacturer |
Orbital ATK Thales Alenia Space |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | February 2019 |
| Rocket | Antares 230 |
| Launch site | MARS LP-0A |
| Contractor | Orbital ATK |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Inclination | 51.6 degrees |
| Epoch | Planned |
| Berthing at ISS | |
| Berthing port | Harmony nadir or Unity nadir |
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Cygnus CRS OA-11, also known as OrbitalATK CRS Flight 11, is the twelfth planned flight of the Orbital ATK' unmanned resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its eleventh flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Orbital and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) program, then Orbital Sciences designed and built Antares, a medium-class launch vehicle; Cygnus, an advanced maneuvering spacecraft, and a Pressurized Cargo Module which is provided by Orbital's industrial partner Thales Alenia Space.
The COTS demonstration mission was successfully conducted in September 2013, and Orbital commenced operational ISS cargo missions under the Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) program with two missions in 2014. Regrettably, the third operational mission, Orb CRS-3, resulted was not successful due to spectacular Antares failure during launch. The company decided to discontinue the Antares 100 series and accelerate the introduction of a new propulsion. The Antares system was upgraded with newly built RD-181 first-stage engines to provide greater payload performance and increased reliability.
To aid the transition during return to flight the company contracted with United Launch Alliance for two Atlas V launches. The first, CRS OA-4 launched on December 6, 2015 and the second, CRS OA-6, on July 6, 2016. The increased payload of the Atlas V enabled the ISS to rebuild its consumable reserves. The first Antares 230 flight, CRS OA-5, is expected to launch on August 22, 2016. CRS OA-7 is expected on December 2017, CRS OA-8E on July 2018, CRS OA-9E on December 2017, CRS OA-10E on June 2018.
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