The schedule puzzles me a bit. If LADEE isn't scheduled to launch until Sept 6-10, isn't there still room for ORB-D to launch in late August and still prepare the range for the LADEE launch more than a week later ? Why would LADEE need exclusive access to the range pre-launch ? Or does Cygnus need the range assets while performing the pre-berthing maneuvers required by the COTS-D milestones ? Is the CBM port on the ISS free all this time ?
http://www.orbital.com/Antares-Cygnus/Orbital Updates Schedule for COTS Demonstration MissionAugust 2013Orbital Sciences Corporation is targeting September 15 as the first opportunity to conduct the Antares launch of our Cygnus spacecraft for the COTS Demonstration Mission to the International Space Station (ISS) originating from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. In the event that weather or other operational factors require the date to shift, the company will seek to carry out the launch no later than September 19. Currently, the Antares rocket for the COTS Demonstration Mission is completing testing at the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) at Wallops and will soon begin integration with the Cygnus spacecraft. Orbital anticipates that it will roll out the Antares rocket with the integrated Cygnus spacecraft to Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on or about September 11 to be ready for a September 15 launch.
Hope Orbital is not after good press that day.
Exactly what is wrong with rolling out a rocket on Sept 11, Prober?