Author Topic: Northrop Grumman (formerly Orbital Sciences / Orbital ATK): Cygnus Update Thread  (Read 312203 times)

Offline baldusi

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That could bring one huge ORU! Or a whole module ;-)
BTW, the numbers according to their press release were 4,400kg of cargo on an Atlas V. Have they bid the four segment Cygnus?

Offline yg1968

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Incidentally, this Orbital/ATK press release also belongs in this thread:

http://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/release.asp?prid=112

NASA Selects Orbital ATK for New 8-Year Contract to Deliver Cargo to the International Space Station

-- CRS-2 Contract Includes Initial Order for Six Cargo Missions  to ISS Beginning in 2019 --

-- Company Offers NASA Flexible Mission Options with Cygnus Spacecraft Capable of Launching Aboard Antares and Atlas Rockets --

Dulles, Virginia 14 January 2016 – Orbital ATK, Inc. (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced it has been selected by NASA for a second contract to provide commercial cargo delivery and disposal services to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contract, the company was awarded six initial cargo missions, valued at about $1.2-$1.5 billion, to be carried out beginning in 2019.  Depending on the spacecraft/launch vehicle configurations used, these initial missions will deliver approximately 22,500-26,500 kilograms (or 49,000-58,000 pounds) of supplies and equipment to the orbiting laboratory. Later in the contract, NASA may award additional missions for the 2021-2024 period based on operational requirements of the ISS.

For the upcoming CRS-2 missions, Orbital ATK’s Cygnus™ spacecraft can be carried into orbit by either the company’s upgraded Antares™ launch vehicle or United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket. This option enables NASA to better tailor future missions to meet specific ISS operational requirements, as well as demonstrating the flexibility of the Cygnus spacecraft for cargo supply to the ISS.

“We are grateful for NASA’s continued confidence in our ability to provide reliable and affordable commercial cargo transportation services to the International Space Station,” said David W. Thompson, Orbital ATK’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “With our flexible cargo delivery system now up and running, our team is well prepared to deliver essential supplies to the International Space Station for years to come.”

Orbital ATK has already delivered approximately 7,300 kilograms (or 16,000 pounds) of cargo to the ISS during four successful missions since 2013. Its next CRS mission (called “OA-6”) is scheduled for launch in March aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.  The OA-6 mission will again utilize an enhanced Cygnus spacecraft capable of carrying over 40% more cargo by incorporating a larger pressurized cargo module than the previous design. For the upcoming mission, Cygnus will deliver approximately 3,500 kilograms (7,700 pounds) of cargo to the ISS.

“This second CRS contract award reinforces Orbital ATK’s role as a trusted partner to NASA with a proven cargo delivery and disposal service that continues to support the important work being performed aboard the ISS,” said Frank Culbertson, President of Orbital ATK’s Space Systems Group. “Our goal for both CRS-1 and CRS-2 remains unchanged, which is to support the needs of the crew members aboard the ISS with 100 percent mission success and schedule certainty.”

For all upcoming missions under the CRS-1 and CRS-2 contracts, Orbital ATK will use the enhanced Cygnus design. In addition to its larger pressurized cargo module that allows increased cargo capacity, the enhanced Cygnus incorporates high-performance UltraFlex™ solar arrays designed and manufactured by the company’s Space Components Division in Goleta, California.

“By utilizing the flexibility of our Cygnus spacecraft, combined with a mixed fleet of launch vehicles, Orbital ATK is providing NASA a complete portfolio of mission options to fulfill their cargo delivery needs,” said Culbertson.

CRS-2 missions to be launched aboard the company’s upgraded Antares rocket will originate from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) located at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia. With support from NASA and Orbital ATK, MARS has completed repairs and upgrades to the Pad 0A launch complex for compatibility with the new Antares configuration. The upgraded Antares will be powered by dual RD-181 main stage engines and a modified first stage core structure that provide increased lift capacity to enable greater payloads as compared to the original Antares design.

“The upgraded Antares is currently undergoing integration with the new RD-181 engines fully installed into the first stage of the rocket,” said Scott Lehr, President of Orbital ATK’s Flight Systems Group. “We remain on schedule for Antares launches to resume in the second quarter of 2016.”
« Last Edit: 01/15/2016 06:22 pm by yg1968 »

Offline Skyrocket

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During the CRS-2 press conference, it was mentionned that Orbital/ATK has the option of bringing up a spacecraft with unpressurized cargo only.

What might that look like? Like half a Cygnus with one end missing?

http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/cygnus-ucm.htm

Basically the Cygnus service module with an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier on it.

Except, that the unpressurized Cygnus of the CRS-2 contract would have the circular solar arrays of the enhanced Cygnus.

Offline arachnitect

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That could bring one huge ORU! Or a whole module ;-)

Not a lot of space inside the Antares fairing...

Quote
BTW, the numbers according to their press release were 4,400kg of cargo on an Atlas V. Have they bid the four segment Cygnus?

Their press release strongly implies that the initial task orders will be the current "enhanced Cygnus." How they proposed to stuff 4.4t in there is beyond me... lots of water? Send the astros some free weights and a Bocce set?

During the CRS-2 press conference, it was mentionned that Orbital/ATK has the option of bringing up a spacecraft with unpressurized cargo only.

What might that look like? Like half a Cygnus with one end missing?

http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/cygnus-ucm.htm

Basically the Cygnus service module with an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier on it.

Except, that the unpressurized Cygnus of the CRS-2 contract would have the circular solar arrays of the enhanced Cygnus.

All the artwork of this thing dates back to COTS. I doubt they've worked on it much since then, but they should incorporate the same service module upgrades we've seen on PCM missions.
« Last Edit: 01/15/2016 10:24 pm by arachnitect »

Offline yg1968

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Incidentally, this Orbital/ATK press release also belongs in this thread:

http://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/release.asp?prid=112

NASA Selects Orbital ATK for New 8-Year Contract to Deliver Cargo to the International Space Station

-- CRS-2 Contract Includes Initial Order for Six Cargo Missions  to ISS Beginning in 2019 --

-- Company Offers NASA Flexible Mission Options with Cygnus Spacecraft Capable of Launching Aboard Antares and Atlas Rockets --

Dulles, Virginia 14 January 2016 – Orbital ATK, Inc. (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced it has been selected by NASA for a second contract to provide commercial cargo delivery and disposal services to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contract, the company was awarded six initial cargo missions, valued at about $1.2-$1.5 billion, to be carried out beginning in 2019.  Depending on the spacecraft/launch vehicle configurations used, these initial missions will deliver approximately 22,500-26,500 kilograms (or 49,000-58,000 pounds) of supplies and equipment to the orbiting laboratory. Later in the contract, NASA may award additional missions for the 2021-2024 period based on operational requirements of the ISS.

Not surprisingly, the price per kg of using Antares is cheaper than using Atlas. It is $53,000 per kg for Antares ($1.2B/22,500kg) and $56,604 per kg for Atlas ($1.5B/26,500kg). So that is a premium of $15.9M per flight for using the more capable Atlas everything else being equal ($56,604 less $53,000 x 26,500kg/6 flights).   
« Last Edit: 02/06/2016 03:13 pm by yg1968 »

Offline yg1968

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Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems was recently awarded a contract to provide multiple Passive Common Berthing Mechanisms (PCBM) by Special Aerospace Services (SAS) of Boulder, Colorado for Orbital ATK’s Cygnus advanced maneuvering spacecraft in support of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 1 and 2 (CRS1, CRS2) programs. This contract follows a previous order with SNC resulting in the complete delivery of eight PCBM units in support of Orbital ATK’s CRS1 missions.

http://www.sncorp.com/AboutUs/NewsDetails/2978

Offline Jim

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During the CRS-2 press conference, it was mentionned that Orbital/ATK has the option of bringing up a spacecraft with unpressurized cargo only.

What might that look like? Like half a Cygnus with one end missing?

http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/cygnus-ucm.htm

Basically the Cygnus service module with an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier on it.

Except, that the unpressurized Cygnus of the CRS-2 contract would have the circular solar arrays of the enhanced Cygnus.

And a different carrier.

Offline arachnitect

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During the CRS-2 press conference, it was mentionned that Orbital/ATK has the option of bringing up a spacecraft with unpressurized cargo only.

What might that look like? Like half a Cygnus with one end missing?

http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/cygnus-ucm.htm

Basically the Cygnus service module with an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier on it.

Except, that the unpressurized Cygnus of the CRS-2 contract would have the circular solar arrays of the enhanced Cygnus.

And a different carrier.

Interesting. What did they change since CRS-1? Any info available?

Offline baldusi

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At least Antares 1x0 to 2x0 and probably 3x0. And then you have the new segmented solid LV project.

Offline arachnitect

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At least Antares 1x0 to 2x0 and probably 3x0. And then you have the new segmented solid LV project.

I interpreted Jim's comment as implying that they changed the unpressurized cargo carrying pallet.

the ELC form factor isn't optimized for the Cygnus application, but I'm not sure the alternatives I can picture are much better.

Offline yg1968

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Some captures from the presentation.

NASA. We don't think we could have lost another one. We have contingency supplies. For CRS-2 its about the same. A little more oversight for reliability and launching on time. A lot of complaints of the delays which is a big cost expense for the payloads. Station was prepared. Commercial payloads hurt more. Redundancy in CRS2. We did not overbuy. Capability to add missions if we need to. Launch on need capability. Bring up another vehicle quickly. Right now go with the missions we have if everything went according to plan. Have an ability to surge.

A small update on CRS2 and Cygnus, the initial CRS2 missions will be enhanced Cygnus' which berth (see slide below and the discussion of it at 5:55 of the video). It is not really surprising but NASA only ordered the pressurized cargo Cygnus (not OATK's unpressurized cargo spacecraft). 
« Last Edit: 01/01/2017 12:44 am by yg1968 »

Offline Sam Ho

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Some quotes on CRS from the OA earnings call March 8:
Quote
We did receive our first CRS2 mission order in the fourth quarter. This year, from a financial standpoint, the overall performance of the combined CRS program will continue to be really dominated by CRS1.

It will probably be something like 85% or 90% from a revenue standpoint CRS1 and 10% or 15% CRS2 this year. There will be a crossover point sometime either very late this year, early next year where instantaneously CRS2 revenue will equal CRS1 but the story for this year will continue to be dominated by CRS1. We expect more clarity and hopefully more orders under CRS2 later this year. But for the time being, we are underway with our first CRS2 mission and I don't know what NASA has done with the other supplier.

We are still planning for three missions this year with the first of which is coming up here in about 10 days and two missions next year. Those are all CRS1 missions.

The final CRS1 mission is expected in early 2019 and the first CRS2 mission is expected that year as well. Beyond that, we will have to wait to see what NASA's needs are. We are assuming about two missions per year 2020 and beyond but we don't have clear visibility just yet to what the needs are going to be at the end of the decade and through the early years of the next decade.

And just over the next 9 to 12 months we will deliver 15 or 16 tons of cargo to the space station.

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Orbital ATK’s Frank Culberson says NASA has exercised the first of six Cygnus missions on its CRS-2 contract; to launch in 2019 on Antares.

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/874267503081525249

Offline yg1968

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Quote
Culbertson said that Orbital ATK plans to use only the Antares for the foreseeable future. That includes the four remaining missions on its original Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA, including the OA-8 mission, as well as the six missions on its CRS-2 follow-on contract awarded last year. NASA has given an authorization to proceed with the first of those six, which he said is expected to launch some time in 2019.

http://spacenews.com/antares-to-resume-cygnus-launches-later-this-summer/
« Last Edit: 06/13/2017 02:50 am by yg1968 »

Offline Sam Ho

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Some comments on Cygnus from today's earnings call:
Quote
In the Space Systems Group, we conducted the OA-7 cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station for NASA, along with the associated science experiments and micro-satellite deployments from the Cygnus spacecraft. The next Cygnus vehicle, the OA-8 spacecraft is complete and ready to launch.

The Antares rocket as well as the Cygnus spacecraft that will launch on the next cargo mission to the space station and now essentially built and tested and ready for cargo loading at Wallops Island launch site.

We were in our on schedule to carry those out this month but I think NASA is going to delay that probably until October, in order to provide a full load of cargo. There's one particular item spare part or subsystem for the space station that they like us to carry on this mission and that cargo element is going to pace the launch.

It's running a bit later than previously expected. As a result, I think it now is unlikely that we will carry out two more cargo launches this year. I think we'll do on in the early fourth quarter and another one in the early first quarter of next year instead of the original plan which had called for one this quarter and one in the final quarter of the year.

But the hardware is in good shape and ready to go. And production and integration in test of both the Antares rocket and the Cygnus spacecraft for the upcoming mission have proceeded very smoothly. So, we're looking forward to that launch as soon as all the cargo is ready to go.

With regard to the CRS part of the question no, we didn't receive any CRS2 orders in the second quarter.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4094384-orbital-atks-oa-ceo-dave-thompson-q2-2017-results-earnings-call-transcript

Offline Star One

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Quote
Jeff Foust
@jeff_foust
Vern Thorp, ULA: we are in discussions with Orbital ATK about flying more Cygnus missions on Atlas 5. #vonbraun

https://mobile.twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/923274861954453504
« Last Edit: 10/25/2017 07:51 pm by Star One »

Offline deruch

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Bit of a bump.

Quote
ISS Daily Summary Report – 3/20/2018

Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles (C2V2) Checkout: This morning, a checkout of the C2V2 system was performed in support of the Orbital-ATK Cygnus (OA-9) mission which will utilize the C2V2 system for approach and capture for the first time. The test verified command capability from MCC-H (Houston), MCC-D (Dulles for Orbital) and from on board via the Portable Computer System (PCS). Ground teams are reviewing the results of the checkout.

Change in Cygnus' proximity operations/communications link to station from the ISS daily summary a few days ago.  Cygnus has in the past used JAXA's Proximity Communication System (PROX) [developed for HTV and using antennas on JEM exterior] during final approach and rendezvous with the station and gotten operations support from the JAXA HTV Operation Control Team for their missions.  OA-9 will be the start of Cygnus using the C2V2 system. 

Also found this from JAXA about a closing ceremony commemorating the end of that support:
http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/topics/2018/03/cygnus_suport.html


The C2V2 contract was awarded to L-3 Communications in 2012.  The antennas for the new comms system were installed on the ISS truss [P3 & S3] during US EVA-31 by Terry Virts and Butch Wilmore on 2015-03-01.  The internal components, 2 redundant units of radios and processing electronics, were installed in the Destiny Lab in March 2016.  Checkout and testing continuing through May of that year.

EDIT: attaching a copy of the OA-9 mission patch which highlights the new communications link with ISS.
« Last Edit: 03/27/2018 02:39 am by deruch »
Shouldn't reality posts be in "Advanced concepts"?  --Nomadd

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1156672522848522240

Quote
Bob Richards of Northrop Grumman: we’re always upgrading Cygnus, including now the capability to plug into station’s network and do experiments inside the Cygnus. #ISSRDC

Offline TrevorMonty

Fiso podcast on Cygnus.

http://fiso.spiritastro.net/telecon/Hodgins-Fuller_4-22-20/

I didn't as informative as expected but few interesting things.

Looking at using it as free flying lab with ability to return to ISS to resupply and offload experiments.

3m diameter had big plus over 4m in that a 5m fairing can fit longer module in pointy end. End result is more wall space compared to 4m for same 5m fairing.

I did wonder about using as crew OTV between LEO-gateway-LEO. Using storables would be about 20 wet for Gateway -LEO trip. A expendable 35t hydrolox stage could deliver it to Gateway. Staging at higher earth orbit would shave few 100m/s of trip reducing its wet mass. 


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