Orbital Sciences Antares 200 launcher (updates)

[DocM]

June 2016? That's a long hiatus. 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

June 2016? That's a long hiatus. 

I also don't recall anything about qualifying, when major changes are done ( I would assume NASA would require some form?). This could turn ugly, real quick, in June...   Do you know if qualification is needed for ISS cargo hauls?

[DocM]

Lets just say the OIG is concerned

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=47830

[Unobscured Vision]

Here's my take:

The only reason Aerojet would agree to "pay a settlement and remove the rest of the stock" is if there was culpable cause determined that those engines were faulty. NO company, anywhere, anytime, is going to just pony up $50 large if they don't have to unless they were about to have the high holy socks sued off of them for negligence. This was damage control. Yes, there is the added component of keeping those engines away from ULA/Lockheed too. They'll call it "bonus points" and move along.

I further surmise that ULA/Lockheed knows how to address the issues present in those engines, make them flight-worthy (they are ULA/Lockheed, after all -- who better to fix them?) and wanted to get their hands on them via a "backorder" from Orbital; which they were perfectly within their rights to sell since Orbital had purchased them legally, before the embargo. Supply and demand -- that's business. In exchange, Orbital essentially gets a couple of rides on a pair of Atlas V's at a nice discount, and a nice business deal to supply ULA and Lockheed with SO-SRB's for future gear. Win-Win. It's smart business and anyone saying "no" to it would be an outright fool. You're making contacts and establishing good business relations with a pair of companies whom are unparalleled in the Aerospace Industry, and growing your own company with very attractive Supply Orders for gear that you obviously can make. You're also getting your foot in the door with Mil/Gov contacts for possible future projects -- and that's never a bad thing.

And yes, that is how the game is played.  Anyone with any contact in that line of business, past or present, knows this.

What happens next? Watch for a counter-offer from either Lockheed-Martin or Boeing for Aerojet. See who folds who first. They'll get those engines one way or another.  

[Draggendrop Veteran]

The link Doc gave us above....NASA not happy, but put in happy language. I can see why NASA likes dealing with SpaceX.

For these other guys...self destruct...regroup, and call it a plan all along.....business as usual...for now.....

[Unobscured Vision]

Yep, and while those other companies are fighting each other like jackals, SpaceX, Bigelow Aerospace, Firefly Aerospace and a few of the lesser-known (for now) NewSpace "Startups" will be protected from all of that madness by NASA, and eventually the Mil/Gov sector too. They know whose butter and jam gets onto the bread, and they'll be rewarded for it while the other kids get sent to time out.

[DocM]

NASA's not entirely white gloves in this. The line guys love NewSpace and SpaceX/Blue/etc. in particular because they're pushing the envelope, and they offer a cool place to go if things at NASA don't work out. Quite a few have already migrated. OTOH, many of the old boys network with OldSpace history and connections grumble loudly and wish they go away. There are rumors this has caused a bit of friction, especially when the NewSpace oriented people come in wearing SpaceX clothes or with swag like SpaceX coffee cups. I could just imagine the fur flying if some wore Occupy Mars shirts in the presence Orion/SLS managers.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

This "old boys group" better get there act together pretty soon, or retire. Today's modern approach to technology and innovation, is "alien" to their way of thinking, where upon, they become an anchor to the organization. No one want's a "stooge with blinders" in charge of anything of consequence, as they will either shoot their own foot off, or get turned upon by the masses, and be sent to pasture. Results are the bottom line, and today, it is done different. We'll see how many door knobs are left in 10 years...won't take long, because by then, the best and brightest will not put up with that (insert noun) and will change the situation or leave for a real adventure, because there will be choice.

This NASA system of old needs a quick death....before they are shamed into adapting.....The SLS is going to tarnish NASA, in the minds of the public, regardless of whose idea it was, in the very near future, and that is by today's standard. 15 years from now...whole new ball game...and I would not be surprised to see NASA as a pure science and space administration, where projects are decided, put out to competition, and "newspace" does the hauling....which is the cost effective way...no gravy trains....../rant over...due to SLS stupidity.....

4/5 of this for one Soyuz seat......every seat, year after year

 

Double skids, This is what the Military/Industrial establishment cost is for 3.5 years

The entire GDP of planet Earth, in 2013, was 75 Trillion, nominal...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_world_product

The SLS may approach 30 to 35+ billion by 2020, and NASA's entire budget for 2020, is 20 billion, the problem is proper allocation of funds. 
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2330/1
http://www.dailytech.com/NASA+Unveils+Design+Cost+for+Next+Generation+Space+Launch+System/article22734.htm

Edited September 26, 2015 by Draggendrop
data addition

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Repairs Completed at Orbital ATK's Antares Launch Pad

Aerial view of Launch Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, taken as repairs were completed.
Photo Credit: Patrick J. Hendrickson / Highcamera.com

Less than a year after Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket suffered a catastrophic launch failure on October 28, 2014, repairs to its damaged launch complex at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) have been completed in preparation for return to flight. MARS Launch Pad 0A, located at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in VA, suffered $15 million dollars in damage after the launch vehicle experienced an engine failure shortly after liftoff and fell back onto the launch complex, exploding.

According to a statement by the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, which owns and operates the MARS facilities, renovations were completed by their deadline of September 30 and fell within the planned budget. The costs for the repairs were split three ways between Virginia Space, NASA, and Orbital ATK, which each contributed $5 million to the project.

Over the last few months, 90-100 MARS employees and contractors worked round the clock to restore Launch Pad 0A to a flight-ready condition. Work began with remediation around the impact site, where the 20-foot-wide, 10-foot-deep crater was filled and contaminants were removed from the topsoil. Damaged structures were repaired and replaced, including liquid propellant feed lines which supply liquid oxygen and kerosene to the rocket and portions of the sound suppression water deluge system, which flood the pad with water to protect it from the energy released at liftoff. New lightning protection towers were installed, two of which were demolished in the explosion. An upgraded hydraulic system was installed, which will be capable of erecting the new Antares in its heavier 230 configuration. Electrical systems, heating and cooling systems, and the pad’s fire alarm were also repaired.

At the time of the accident, the launch complex was not covered by insurance. If the damage to the $150 million launch pad had been greater, the Virginia spaceport might not have recovered from the accident. Fortunately, the most critical structures at the complex were spared in the explosion. As part of a deal announced in August, Orbital ATK will be responsible for insuring the launch pad for all future flights. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe expressed his disapproval of the state’s launch facilities going uninsured and was disappointed that the taxpayers had to pay for an accident that Virginia Space was not responsible for. Liability over the launch failure came under intense debate.

In their own accident investigation report, Orbital ATK blamed the cause of the mishap on a faulty turbopump in one of the AJ-26 engines supplied by Aerojet. The engine supplier made a rebuttal, claiming that improper handling of the engine by Orbital during vehicle processing could have caused the engine to fail. The AJ-26 was originally manufactured in the 1970s as a Soviet NK-33 engine for the N-1 moon rocket. The engine that failed on Antares was completely destroyed in the accident. Little to no evidence remains as to what the root cause of the engine failure was. Despite Aerojet’s claims, the company ended up paying Orbital ATK a $50 million settlement in a lawsuit over the accident. Payment was made on September 30, the same day work at the launchpad was completed. Orbital ATK is also taking ownership of ten of the remaining AJ-26 engines from Aerojet. This marks the end of Aerojet’s involvement with Orbital ATK, which has replaced the engines on Antares with the new RD-181 from NPO Energomash.

 

 
One of the two AJ-26 engines that were lost in the Orb-3 accident.
Photo Credit: Elliot Severn

According to Dale Nash, executive director of Virginia Space, meeting the September 30 deadline for repairing the launch pad was crucial for keeping the testing and flight schedule on track. A 29-second static hot fire of the upgraded first stage of Antares is on track for December or January. This will test the new Antares first stage configuration with its new RD-181 engines and will prove the flight readiness of the new systems on the launch pad. Orbital ATK plans to launch at least two NASA commercial resupply missions from Wallops in 2016 in addition to two missions that will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V. Orbital ATK is on track to return Antares to flight as early as March, but in accordance with NASA’s ISS cargo logistics requirements, the next mission from Wallops probably won’t have to launch until June. Orbital ATK plans to debut their enhanced Cygnus cargo freighter with its first launch on an Atlas V, currently slated for December 3.

While Orbital ATK and SpaceX are both recovering from their launch failures of two separate NASA commercial resupply missions, NASA chose to postpone the selection of winners for the second round of commercial resupply contacts. Instead, the original contracts with SpaceX and Orbital ATK are being extended in order to meet the space station’s logistics requirements through the second quarter of 2018. Orbital ATK was awarded two additional flights, increasing the contract to a total of ten missions. Four to five of the remaining missions will be launched from Wallops. Orbital ATK had previously reduced the contact to eight flights, utilizing the larger payload capacity of the enhanced Cygnus spacecraft and more powerful launch vehicles to fulfill the CRS cargo requirements. Orbital ATK is competing with SpaceX, Sierra Nevada, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin for the CRS-2 contract, which will supply the space station through 2024. The announcement of the CRS-2 contract winners is scheduled to take place on November 5.

http://www.americaspace.com/?p=86858#more-86858

Another mention of LM again.........Did some checking...as Doc mentioned, last May, LM was out..but it appears many reports were via twitter, but L2 had better info....the articles in many papers, yesterday, were relying on a more reputable source (what, I don't know), hence, good enough to publish, while waiting for the official NASA announcement, in due time....."shakes head"...Later.....

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Cygnus supply ship takes weather satellite’s slot in Atlas manifest

The service module for Orbital ATK’s next Cygnus cargo craft will be shipped to the launch site at Cape Canaveral from Virginia later this month. It features upgrades such as fan-shaped solar arrays and a lengthened cargo module. Credit: Orbital ATK.

Orbital ATK plans to launch its next two commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station on Atlas 5 rockets, grabbing a launch slot in March after a next-generation U.S. weather satellite was delayed, industry officials said.

The decision also gives engineers readying Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket, which is being outfitted with a new type of engine, some extra breathing room in their test sequence at the Antares launch base at Wallops Island, Virginia, said Frank Culbertson, president of the company’s space systems group.

The next two Cygnus flights, tentatively set for Dec. 3 and March 10, will fly from Cape Canaveral on United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets. Orbital ATK signed contracts for two Atlas 5 flights — using the company’s own funds — to continue flying cargo flights to the space station after an Antares launch failure in October 2014.

“We worked out a very good arrangement with ULA to fly the Cygnus twice, once on Dec. 3 coming up and once next March, and then we’ll pick up with flights out of Wallops next May approximately,” Culbertson said Wednesday at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Orbital ATK announced in August the purchase of a second Atlas 5 launch for the company’s Cygnus supply freighter, executing a contract option from a deal for the the first Atlas 5/Cygnus flight signed weeks after the company’s Antares booster crashed shortly after launch in October 2014.

Officials in August said the Atlas 5 mission could fly before or after the Antares booster’s return to flight, declining to identify a launch date.

 

 
File photo of an Atlas 5 rocket launch. The Cygnus missions will fly on the Atlas 5-401 variant with a four-meter payload fairing and no solid rocket boosters. Credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Tony Gray

A launch slot in the Atlas manifest originally assigned to NOAA’s new GOES-R weather satellite will now go to Orbital ATK’s Cygnus supply ship. Managers delayed the launch of the meteorological observatory from March to late 2016 after the weather satellite program encountered schedule slips, according to a NOAA spokesperson.

“An opportunity came up where it looked like there was going to be a launch availability, and we looked at what we had going on, and the push to get Antares ready,” Culbertson told Spaceflight Now. “And then we talked to NASA about how often would they really like cargo delivered, and we just decided that made a combination to go ahead and lock in that option and go ahead and launch (in March).”

The Dec. 3 flight, known as OA-4, could move forward one day if the rocket and spacecraft are ready in time, Culbertson said. One more Atlas 5 flight from Cape Canaveral is due for Oct. 30 with a GPS navigation satellite, then Cygnus is next in line.

The Italian-built cargo module for the December launch is being prepared for flight at Astrotech’s commercial clean room near Cape Canaveral. The U.S.-manufactured Cygnus power and propulsion module will be trucked from Orbital ATK’s Dulles, Virginia, headquarters to Florida next week, officials said.

The follow-up flight in March is designated OA-6, while the Antares return-to-flight mission is called OA-5. Officials decided to keep the OA-5 name with the Antares mission, according to Culbertson, a former shuttle and station astronaut.

Orbital ATK has a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA to ferry supplies to the space station over 10 flights through 2018, including the failed mission last year, which was the third in the sequence.

 

 

The October 2014 rocket failure, which Orbital ATK blamed on one of the first stage’s AJ26 engines, grounded the Antares launcher. The company suspended Antares flights after the mishap, and accelerated an already-planned replacement of the troubled AJ26 engine with newly-built RD-181 engines.

Both powerplants are made in Russia, but the AJ26 engines — supplied by U.S.-based Aerojet Rocketdyne — were manufactured for the Soviet-era N1 moon rocket program in the 1970s. The RD-181 engines from NPO Energomash are based on a modern design, with components and heritage from the RD-180 engine used on ULA’s Atlas 5.

Culbertson said the Antares team at Wallops has integrated the first two RD-181 engines with a first stage booster in the rocket’s hangar. Another two RD-181 engines have been delivered to the United States for a subsequent Antares mission, he said.

The decision to launch back-to-back Cygnus spacecraft on Atlas 5s “took a little bit of pressure off the team at Wallops to get through their testing,” Culbertson said. “They’re still on track to make a March date, but now we have a little margin.”

The Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, which owns the Antares launch facility on NASA property at Wallops, announced Sept. 30 the completion of repairs to the launch pad from damage sustained in last year’s failure.

Culbertson said the launch pad will now be tested to ensure it is ready for a hotfire test of the Antares booster early next year.

The RD-181 engines burn the same kerosene and liquid oxygen propellant mixture as the AJ26 powerplants previously flown on Antares, but the new engines do not require “super-chilled” cryogenic liquid oxygen.

The oxidizer is still stored at about minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 184 degrees Celsius), but it is a few degrees warmer than the liquid oxygen conditioned for consumption by the AJ26.

“It’s relieved some requirements on the plumbing and temperature control on the LOX side,” Culbertson said in an interview. “LOX is still pretty darn cold, but no, it doesn’t have to be super-chilled.”

 http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/10/07/cygnus-supply-ship-takes-weather-satellites-slot-in-atlas-manifest/

//Kind of a one sided article...no mention of qualification(s) date(s) or NASA acceptance of these stated time frames....? 

[Unobscured Vision]

Yeah, and NASA needs to approve all changes before Antares Rev.2 flies. I'm sure there have been more changes made besides the engine replacement, however minor; and each of those needs to be reviewed.

Hope they've updated the Flight Software, too. It would seem like a minor detail but anyone not aware of how Rockets work should know that different engines need different Flight Software. Attempt to fly a rocket with new engines and old software and things will go south in a hurry. If anyone thought the failure last October was "fireworks", wait until they try a "negligent misconfiguration" like that ... I wouldn't want to be anywhere within ten kilometers of that mess.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

SpaceX get's all kind's of flack for allowing a Merlin to be a full thrust unit from a previously restricted unit (same engine). These guys put in completely different engines, different support structures and plumbing, different avionics, onboard and groundstation, and in the meantime, put a Cygnus on an Atlas 5, which would have required some form of mating reconfiguration, and no one bats an eye....OK.....NASA must be biting their tongue about something.....

[Unobscured Vision]

If memory serves, more often than not modules are built with a "Universal Mating Configuration" built-in, meaning that they can be fitted to other launchers without the need of an adapter. Otherwise, an adapter is needed, which wouldn't be terribly difficult to fabricate and to load-test. ULA's gear is pretty box-standard, so anyone booking flights would obviously be privvy to that information and the technical support from ULA to get any needed adapters made quickly, and the design review & approval process would likely be fast-tracked to eliminate any unneeded delays.

ULA likely has their own NASA Liaison people who are available at a moments' notice for stuff like this.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

I was reading a NasaSpaceflight article...and was caught off guard by this....

article...

Orbital ATK prepares for QM-2 test of SLS Solid Rocket Booster in spring 2016
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/10/orbital-atk-prepares-qm-2-test-sls-srb-spring-2016/

The article talks about the upcoming tests in early 2016...and ended with some "company history"....excerpt

During the Rogers’ Commission hearings into the loss of Challenger, several Thiokol officials’ testimonies revealed seemingly conflicting understandings on the minimal safe operational temperatures for the SRBs, with some claiming 40°F as the minimum and others revealing concerns that 53°F was cold enough to be problematic.

Other testimony complicating understanding of the minimal safe operational temperatures for the SRBs revolved around whether that 40°F lower limit was air temperature or propellant mean bulk temperature.

Since then, Thiokol became ATK and ATK has now become Orbital ATK. But through those transitions, the dedication to understanding how the SRBs operate in their lower and maximum temperature ranges has remained.

 

I thought Thiokol was morally and financially bankrupt......no..... the monster still lives........reread last quote line now.......

[Unobscured Vision]

So Orbital REALLY is OldSpace after all?! Just a fancy-schmancy PR Campaign and a ploy to keep the public as clueless to the truth as possible??

Oh, that's just plain nasty. No wonder they had such an easy win-over with ULA and booking flights on those Atlas rockets, especially with the RD-180 shortage.

BLAH. Might as well be ULA running the show at Orbital ATK; it's many of the same players.

[DocM]

Thiokol/ATK was both old space and a major arms manufacturer producing missiles, missile subsystems, rocket motors and propellants, propellant powders for firearms & artillery, artillery,  bullets (projectiles: Speer), cartridge primers and assembled ammo through Federal  and CCI, Savage Arms etc. Also Bushnell and Weaver scopes and numerous other sporting goods, sporting media  and military products. Quite a conglomerate.

Orbital has also been around for decades, doing high tech mission modules, aerospace electronics, satellites and a lot of classified and public military projects.

As part of the merger ATK's sports and small arms products were spun off as Vista Outdoor

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vista_Outdoor_Inc.

[Unobscured Vision]

All of those subsidiaries are familiar to me. They've got a few more that need to stay off the record, as they're M/I Suppliers. Now it fits, I've heard of ATK but never put it together until now. Anyone who has ever been in the U.S. Military has used their gear, likely more than they realize. ATK has their fingers in everything. 

Sheesh. Who knew?

[Draggendrop Veteran]

All of those subsidiaries are familiar to me. They've got a few more that need to stay off the record, as they're M/I Suppliers. Now it fits, I've heard of ATK but never put it together until now. Anyone who has ever been in the U.S. Military has used their gear, likely more than they realize. ATK has their fingers in everything. 

Sheesh. Who knew?

Almost like they are too big and diversified, to be manageable and cost effective.....typical military/industrial currency vacuum....

[Unobscured Vision]

No wonder Elon hates Orbital so much. He knows who they really are.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

No wonder Elon hates Orbital so much. He knows who they really are.

Yes...I had no idea of the depth and scope of this old space entity.....certainly explains their ease of manouvering amongst the other old space regimes....these companies can trade goods and services on the book's..and not spend one dime of their own....

[Unobscured Vision]

Yep, and it explains how they were able to seemingly book several flights on Atlas V rockets when those engines are in such short supply, and ULA was like "No problem" with nary a word to the contrary about it.

Any company that can make someone like ULA crap themselves?!! Yeah ... lets all of us know what kind of stroke Orbital/ATK has. They likely could buy out ULA if they wanted to, and nobody who wanted their company to survive would dare try to stop them or even say a word about it.

Folks, this is how downright nasty and powerful ATK (the parent company of Orbital) really is -- THINK HALLIBURTON. Only with huge armaments contracts with Military and Police forces worldwide. And Rockets. And yes, they manufacture weapons, small and large, under many different subsidiary names. There's nobody closer to the "Umbrella Corporation" than ATK.

My guess is that they saw the writing on the wall concerning the NewSpace Movement, and wanted to cash in. They're smart -- smarter than most people would give them credit for being. They're after the money (never a bad thing), and want the company to come out on top in all the ways it can (also not a bad thing), so they're following the trend and doing the things they do best.

The deal with Aerojet and ULA, with the buyout? Remember that? Likely ATK stepped in and said to Bruno, directly "You're not going to do that. You don't need to do that. We'll make your boosters for you, and we'll be your partners in all of this other stuff -- in fact, we'll even help finance the BE-4 engine because we need it too" .... and that was that. That's how much stroke ATK has. Bruno, in this scenario, likely was crapping himself even talking to them.

I don't usually like to badmouth anyone .. well, okay, sometimes it's necessary .. but in this case, Orbital/ATK is really a juggernaut M/IC Mega-Corporation and if they wanted it that way, everyone would be their b***h. There's no other way to put it. They're on a completely different level than anyone realizes.

[DocM]

This pre-merger Wiki on ATK lists most of their products. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliant_Techsystems

 

[Unobscured Vision]

In 1990 was "spun-off" from Honeywell. That just means it's yet another subsidiary.

Oh, and here's the products ATK Defense makes:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliant_Techsystems#ATK_Defense

[Draggendrop Veteran]

This conglomerate is huge with deep pockets. this leads me to wonder...

1) plenty of cash to influence
2) plenty of jobs for favors
3) shareholder greed is their bottleneck

They will not be able to undercut and kill at a loss for any duration as SpaceX and ArianneSpace have their own modern, paid launchers and a substantial and growing customer base. The conglomerate will only be able to influence "government" contracts, and even then, only to a point of stalling progress to fill their coffers...but ultimately...the money crunch will cause government to require cost effectiveness, in order to finance all programs required to run a country....If these conglomerates can't buy out newspace...their ventures will eventually be terminated by the shareholders....greed is predictable...

 

[Unobscured Vision]

Yeah, and that's what worries me. We'll end up like the old Warsaw Pact Nations, with nothing but decaying ruins that were once monuments of progress and technological advancement.

It broke my very spirit when I saw those images of the old Buran Facilities, because those birds should have had their chance to do amazing things. Can you imagine the photo-op of Buran and Columbia docked at the (now-complete) ISS at the same time in 2002, because the Russian Shuttles were able to assist with the construction?

THIS is what I mean when I say that this pattern of death, destruction and waste needs to end. I probably haven't said it here on Neowin but I've said it elsewhere -- we are our own worst enemy.