spacetoday.net: Orbital reschedules initial Antares launches

Posted: Fri, Jul 20, 2012, 5:23 AM ET (0923 GMT)
Antares launch illustration (Orbital Sciences Corp.)

Orbital Sciences Corporation announced Thursday it is now planning the inaugural launch of its medium-lift Antares rocket this October, with a demonstration flight of its Cygnus cargo spacecraft to follow by the end of the year. Orbital said it plans a "hot fire" test of the first stage of the Antares on its launch pad at Virginia's Mid-Altantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) in late August or early September, to be followed by the first Antares launch, carrying a demonstration payload, in October. It will be followed in December by the Antares launch of a Cygnus cargo spacecraft that will berth with the ISS. Orbital developed Cygnus and Antares under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program to ferry cargo to the station; Orbital plans to also use Antares, previously known as Taurus 2, for satellite launches as well. Orbital announced the schedule during the release of its second quarter financial statement, where the company reported revenues of $371.3 million and net income of $14.6 million for the quarter. Orbital also reported a $2.1-million charge in the quarter for a proposed acquisition that was not carried out, which some speculate was a bid by the company to acquire Space Systems/Loral.