Orbital ATK | The Verge

Orbital ATK will launch an Antares rocket to the International Space Station on Monday morning

2018-05-20T17:17:17-04:00

Early risers on the US East Coast might get a bit of a show tomorrow morning: private space company Orbital ATK will launch its Antares rocket with a Cygnus spacecraft at 4:39AM ET from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The mission is the company's ninth flight for NASA, and is headed to the International Space Station, where it will drop off 7,400 pounds of scientific equipment and supplies when it docks on Thursday, May 24th.

One piece of equipment that the rocket will carry is the Cold Atom Laboratory, which will use magnetic fields and lasers to create clouds of atoms called Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), cooled to just ab …

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East Coasters might be able to spot Orbital ATK’s rocket launch this weekend

2017-11-11T07:48:35-05:00

Tomorrow morning, private spaceflight company Orbital ATK will get back to resupplying the International Space Station for NASA, sending up 7,400 pounds of supplies inside its Cygnus cargo capsule. And for this launch, the company is using its own rocket, the Antares, which hasn't seen any action since last year. The Antares will be taking off from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, and those living along the East Coast may be able to get a glimpse of the vehicle after takeoff.

For this launch, the company is using its own rocket, the Antares

If successful, it'll be the eighth flight to the ISS for Orbital ATK and the second one the …

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NASA is saving big bucks by partnering with commercial companies like SpaceX

2017-11-10T10:50:15-05:00

An artistic rendering of NASA’s Crew Dragon docking with the International Space Station. | Image: SpaceX

NASA's decision to rely on private companies like SpaceX to resupply the International Space Station has possibly saved the space agency billions of dollars, according to a study done by an employee at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The study, first reported by Ars Technica, breaks down the numbers for NASA's investments in various commercial spacecraft over the last decade, to give an "apples to apples" comparison of costs.

In 2006, NASA decided to change how it sends supplies to the orbiting lab: instead of using government-operated rockets like the Space Shuttle, the agency would get commercial companies to do it instead. NASA helped fund …

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Watch an Atlas V rocket send a cargo capsule honoring John Glenn to the space station this morning

2017-04-18T08:30:01-04:00

It's about that time again: the astronauts on the International Space Station are all set to get a new shipment of cargo from Earth. This time, it's private spaceflight company Orbital ATK that's in charge of the resupply run. The company's Cygnus cargo capsule - filled with more than 7,600 pounds of food, water, tools, and science experiments - is set to launch on top of an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, this morning. The flight was supposed to happen at the end of March, but was delayed until today due to a hydraulic issues with some ground equipment.

This is Orbital's third time launching the Cygnus on an Atlas V - the flag …

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2016: the year in space

2016-12-22T09:12:14-05:00

The year 2016 was a dynamic time for spaceflight and space science, marked by major technological achievements in rocketry and scientific discoveries that will completely alter our understanding of the Universe for decades to come. Scientists announced the first detection of gravitational waves and rockets landed after launching to space. New missions took off to learn more about the history of our Solar System and we've inched ever closer to answering that ultimate question: are we alone in the Universe?

This was a dynamic year for spaceflight and space science

Of course, the space community experienced its own share of failures this year, …

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NASA prepares (yet again) to launch weather satellites from the belly of a plane

2016-12-15T06:00:00-05:00

NASA's CYGNSS mission, an initiative to send eight small satellites into space on a Pegasus XL rocket, is slated for another takeoff this morning. The launch was originally set for Monday but was scrubbed because of a faulty hydraulic pump, with a second attempt on Wednesday cancelled due to software issues. This morning, NASA will try again, with a scheduled launch time window of 08:35AM ET (originally 08:26AM ET). You should (hopefully) be able to watch the launch in the live stream above.

The satellites being launched are meant to study various aspects of tropical storms and hurricanes from orbit, helping scientists better understand how th …

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After successful Antares launch, NASA wants Orbital ATK to launch on ULA’s rocket again

2016-11-04T13:19:41-04:00

NASA has asked commercial partner Orbital ATK to set aside its Antares rocket for the company's next mission to the International Space Station and instead fly cargo on an Atlas V rocket - the premier vehicle of the United Launch Alliance. The move is aimed at getting more cargo to the ISS in early 2017, since the Atlas V has a greater lift capability than the Antares.

The Antares returned to flight just last month

It's an ironic decision since the Antares successfully returned to flight just last month. The rocket had been grounded for the past two years, after a previous version of the vehicle exploded in a spectacular fireball during a la …

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Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket returns to flight with successful launch to the space station

2016-10-17T19:55:52-04:00

Orbital ATK's Antares rocket is officially back in play after successfully launching from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia this evening. It marked the first flight of the Antares since October 2014, when a previous version of the vehicle exploded just seconds after taking off. The rocket's main engines have been replaced since then - and tonight, they flawlessly propelled the Antares away from the same launchpad the vehicle exploded on two years ago.

Launching from the same pad it exploded on two years ago

Tonight's launch carried Orbital's Cygnus cargo capsule into orbit for NASA, as part of the agency's commercial cargo program. …

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Tonight, watch Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket launch for the first time in two years

2016-10-17T08:30:00-04:00

Tonight, Orbital ATK will launch its Antares rocket again - nearly two years after the vehicle's last launch ended in a spectacular explosion. Since then, the Antares has gone through an extensive upgrade, as the vehicle's main engines have been replaced. Now, Orbital is finally ready to get back to launching the Antares to the International Space Station for NASA.

Ironically, many of the capsule's experiments revolve around the study of fire

Situated on top of the Antares is Orbital's Cygnus cargo capsule, filled with food, supplies, and science experiments for the crew of the ISS. Ironically, many of its experiments revolve around the study …

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Orbital ATK to launch Antares rocket this weekend — two years after 2014 explosion

2016-10-14T12:58:23-04:00

Sunday night, the employees of spaceflight company Orbital ATK will hold their breath as they watch their Antares rocket take flight from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. But their anxiety will stem from more than just pre-launch jitters. It's been nearly two years since the Antares last launched - and the previous time the rocket flew, things didn't exactly go according to plan.

That last launch, on October 28th, 2014, was supposed to be a routine flight: a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The first two cargo runs had worked flawlessly, and there was no reason to think the third one would be different. …

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