At first glance, the NG-19 mission will be just another in a series of launches designed to supply the International Space Station. On second glance, however, we find out that the Cygnus spacecraft will be carrying the very last example of the Antares rocket in the 230+ version. These Northrop Grumman rockets use RD-181 rocket engines from Russia in the first stage. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian side decided to stop supplying these engines to the US in response to Western sanctions. The stock was enough for a few starts, but this will be the last. The next three Cygnus ships will fly on Falcon rockets, and perhaps in June 2025 Antares will return to service in the 330 version with all American technologies. You can watch the finale of this racket if you don’t mind staying overnight. The start is planned for tomorrow at 2:31 CEST.
Final overview:
Start time and date: August 2 at 02:31 CET
Start location: Rampa LP-0A, Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), Virginie
Rocket: Antares 230+
Primary load: Cygnus cargo spaceship
Cargo weight: about 7 tons
Delivery Orbit: Low Earth orbit (51.6° inclination to the equator)
Arrival of the ship to the ISS: Friday, August 4 before noon SELČ
We will start our broadcast about 15 minutes before the start, i.e. around 02:15 CET. If you’re interested in joining the chat, click on the video title in the upper left corner to take you to the YouTube page for that broadcast.
Sources of information:
https://twitter.com/
https://www.nasa.gov/
https://nextspaceflight.com/
Contact the author: report errors, inaccuracies, comments
2023-08-01 15:34:32
#LIVE #CZECH #Farewell #Antares #rocket
