Orbital Sciences Corporation specializes in small- and medium-class space and rocket systems. They are under contract, along with SpaceX, to conduct commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station when needed.
On July 11, Orbital Sciences is scheduled to conduct one of these resupply missions to the ISS at 1:40 p.m. and NASA plans to televise the launch beginning at 1 p.m. Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket is expected to carry the Cygnus cargo spacecraft that will hold over 3,000 pounds of cargo for the crew members of Expedition 40.
The Antares rocket is a medium-class space launch vehicle that has a 95% launch reliability. It was designed to provide low-Earth orbit launches for payloads in excess of 10,000 pounds. The NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services agreement was signed by Orbital Sciences in 2013 for a total of eight resupply missions.
Among the cargo, essential supplies will be sent for the crew members along with science experiments to keep the research aboard the ISS ongoing. The experiments include nanosatellites, which are designed to take images of Earth, and a NASA satellite-related investigation called TechEdSat-4. Other student experiments from the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program will also be sent and eventually brought back to Earth with the results.
The space station is scheduled to receive the cargo shipment on Tuesday, July 15, where NASA TV also plans to cover the capture and installation of the Cygnus spacecraft by Commander Steve Swanson and Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst aboard the ISS. Coverage is expected to begin at 6:15 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
Earlier this week, Orbital Sciences also conducted a milestone mission with NASA with the launch of the space agency's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite. The satellite, built by Orbital Sciences, is expected to record the first measurements of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere from space. It will record the measurements in different regions of the world as it spends at least two years in orbit.
But the company's next focus is for next Friday, when the Cygnus cargo spacecraft will launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Launch Pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
You can read more about the resupply mission in this NASA news release.
