Antares A-ONE

<p>Antares A-ONE mission was the maiden flight of <a href="/facts/Orbital_Sciences_Corporation/WNB0SKlF">Orbital Sciences Corporation</a>' <a href="/facts/Antares_(rocket)/bjaHqCmA">Antares</a> <a href="/facts/Launch_vehicle/g1GCGFJB">launch vehicle</a> including the ascent to space and accurate delivery of a simulated payload, the Cygnus Mass Simulator (CMS), which was launched 21 April 2013. It was launched from <a href="/facts/Mid-Atlantic_Regional_Spaceport_Launch_Pad_0/tdB0Io71">Pad 0A</a> at the <a href="/facts/Mid-Atlantic_Regional_Spaceport/NerIMmk0">Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport</a> (MARS), <a href="/facts/Wallops_Flight_Facility/F6QvD712">Wallops Flight Facility</a>, <a href="/facts/Virginia/g2kucGdn">Virginia</a>. The simulated payload simulates the mass of the <a href="/facts/Cygnus_(spacecraft)/8jFp6gs7">Cygnus cargo spacecraft</a>. This dummy payload was sent into an orbit of 223 km × 237 km (139 mi × 147 mi) with an <a href="/facts/Orbital_inclination/TQCFWyfd">orbital inclination</a> of 51.63°, the same launch profile it will use for Orbital's Cygnus cargo supply missions to the <a href="/facts/International_Space_Station/VNPUBz9m">International Space Station</a> (ISS) for <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a>.
</p><p>This launch along with several other activities leading up to it, are paid milestones under NASA's <a href="/facts/Commercial_Orbital_Transportation_Services/wYMHLjrk">Commercial Orbital Transportation Services</a> (COTS) program.
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Antares A-ONE open-in-new

Antares A-ONE