Cygnus CRS-4 (enhanced PCM version) [NASA]
Cygnus CRS-12 (enhanced PCM version with radiators,
external fittings and CubeSat deployers) [NASA]
Orbital and NASA's Johnson Space Center are jointly developing a new space transportation system in a three-year cooperative program to support the International Space Station (ISS). The COTS program will involve full-scale development and flight demonstration of a commercial cargo delivery system. The COTS system will consist of:
The Spacecraft consists of a Service Module (SM), which can be used with either a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) or an Unpressurized Cargo Module (UCM) (now cancelled). The PCM is based on the MPLM-Logistics-Module, while the UCM is based on the Express Cargo Carrier, which were both used with the Shuttle. The PCM is manufactured by Thales-Alenia.
The enhanced Cygnus spacecraft will be capable of delivering up to 2,700 kg of pressurized cargo to the ISS. It can also carry an external CubeSat dispenser (first flown on OA-6) and can host internal modules with experiments to be conducted in free flight after the ISS mission.
The enhanced Cygnus will be used beginning with the fifth Cygnus mission. Due to the explosion of the first Antares-130 rocket, which was originally planned to launch all enhanced Cygnus missions, the first two will fly on an Atlas-5(401) launch vehicle with the reengined Antares-230 taking over in 2016. Also they are planning to fulfill the cargo contract with only four instead of five remaining missions. In March 2015, one more mission was added to the contract for launch in 2017. In August 2015, two more missions were added.
Under the CRS-2 selction in January 2015 Cygnus was selected for a minimum of six missions, which might use both Antares-230+ or Atlas-5(401) launch vehicles and may include versions for unpressurized cargo and extended length pressurized versions. In November 2020, two more missions were ordered.
Cygnus CRS-9 was the first to feature external deployers for CubeSats. The Cygnus CRS-12 mission was the first to feature conformal radiators and a rack to dispose of external payloads.
Cygnus CRS-16 carried the hosted PIRPL (Prototype Infra-Red Payload) experiment, a joint effort of the Space Development Agency (SDA) with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and being developed by Northrop Grumman, to develop a medium field of view, multispectral imager for OPIR to be able to demonstrate the feasibility and use of that for the Tracking Layer Tranche 1 payloads.
Nation: | USA |
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Type / Application: | Space Station logistics |
Operator: | NASA |
Contractors: | Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) |
Equipment: | |
Configuration: | |
Propulsion: | IHI BT-4, 32 × MR-106M |
Power: | 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries |
Lifetime: | 66 days |
Mass: | 7492 kg (#4) |
Orbit: | 400 km × 400 km, 51.6° (typical) |
Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
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Cygnus CRS-4 (OA 4, SS Deke Slayton 2) | 2015-072A | 06.12.2015 | CC SLC-41 | Atlas-5(401) | with SIMPL, AggieSat 4, Bevo 2, Flock-2e 1, ..., 12, CADRE, MinXSS 1, Nodes 1, Nodes 2, STMSat 1, SNAPS | |
Cygnus CRS-5 (OA 5, SS Alan Poindexter) | 2016-062A | 18.10.2016 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230 | with Lemur-2 14, ..., 17 | |
Cygnus CRS-6 (OA 6, SS Rick Husband) | 2016-019A | 23.03.2016 | CC SLC-41 | Atlas-5(401) | with Diwata 1, Flock-2e' 1, ..., 20, Lemur-2 5, ..., 13 | |
Cygnus CRS-7 (OA 7, SS John Glenn) | 2017-019A | 18.04.2017 | CC SLC-41 | Atlas-5(401) | with ALTAIR 1, SUSat, UNSW-EC0, i-INSPIRE 2, ZA-AeroSat, nSIGHT 1, Ex-Alta 1, LilacSat 1, NJUST 1, Aoxiang 1, SOMP 2, QBITO, Aalto 2, X-CubeSat, SpaceCube, DUTHSat, UPSat, Hoopoe, LINK, SNUSAT 1, SNUSAT 1b, qbee50-LTU-OC, BeEagleSat, HAVELSAT, Phoenix, PolyITAN-2-SAU, QBUS 1, QBUS 2, QBUS 4, IceCube, CSUNSat 1, CXBN 2, KySat 3, SHARC, Lemur-2 30, ..., 33 | |
Cygnus CRS-8 (OA 8E, SS Gene Cernan) | 2017-071A | 12.11.2017 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230 | with EcAMSat, TechEdSat 6, Lemur-2 50, ..., 57, ISARA, CHEFsat, Asgardia 1, OCSD B, OCSD C, PropCube 2 | |
Cygnus CRS-9 (OA 9E, SS J. R. Thompson) | 2018-046A | 21.05.2018 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230 | with CubeRRT, HaloSat, Radix, RainCube, TEMPEST-D, Lemur-2 78, ..., 81, AeroCube 12A, AeroCube 12B, RadSat-g, EQUiSat, MemSat, EnduroSat One | |
Cygnus CRS-10 (NG 10E, SS John Young) | 2018-092A | 17.11.2018 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230 | with CHEFsat 2, KickSat 2, MYSAT 1 | |
Cygnus CRS-11 (NG 11E, SS Roger Chaffee) | 2019-022A | 17.04.2019 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230 | with VCC A, B, C, Bird JPN, Bird LKA, Bird NPL, IOD-GEMS, SpooQy 1, Światowid, KrakSat, AeroCube 10A, AeroCube 10B, SASSI2, Seeker, EntrySat, ThinSat 1A, ..., 1L | |
Cygnus CRS-12 (NG 12, SS Alan Bean) | 2019-071A | 02.11.2019 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230+ | with STPSat 4, HARP, Phoenix, RadSat-u, SOCRATES, Argus 02, HuskySat 1, SwampSat 2, AeroCube 14A, 14B, AeroCube 15A, 15B, Orbital Factory 2 | |
Cygnus CRS-13 (NG 13, SS Robert H. Lawrence) | 2020-011A | 15.02.2020 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230+ | with Red-Eye 2, Red-Eye 3, DeMI, TechEdSat 10 | |
Cygnus CRS-14 (NG 14, SS Kalpana Chawla) | 2020-069A | 03.10.2020 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230+ | with Bobcat 1, NEUTRON 1, SPOC, Lemur-2 124, Lemur-2 125, DESCENT Mother, DESCENT Daughter, SATLLA 1 | |
Cygnus CRS-15 (NG 15, SS Katherine Johnson) | 2021-013A | 20.02.2021 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230+ | with Lawkanat 1, Gunsmoke-J 2, ORCA 6, ORCA 7, IT-SPINS, TAU-SAT 1, MYSAT 2, STARS-EC, OPUSAT 2, RSP 01, WARP 01, Maya 2, Guaranisat 1, Tsuru, ThinSat 2A, ..., 2I | |
Cygnus CRS-16 (NG 16, SS Ellison Onizuka) | 2021-072A | 10.08.2021 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230+ | ||
Cygnus CRS-17 (NG 17, SS Piers Sellers) | 2022-015A | 19.02.2022 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230+ | with KITSUNE, NACHOS 1, IHI-Sat | |
Cygnus CRS-18 (NG 18, SS Sally Ride) | 2022-149A | 07.11.2022 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230+ | with Cygnus CRS-18, Taka, PearlAfricaSat 1, ZimSat 1, SpaceTuna 1 | |
Cygnus CRS-19 (NG 19, SS Laurel Clark) | - | 2023 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230+ | with DUPLEX, MOONLIGHTER, SeaLion, Ut-ProSat 1 | |
Cygnus CRS-20 (NG 20) | - | 202x | CC | Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) | ||
Cygnus CRS-21 (NG 21) | - | 202x | CC | Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) | ||
Cygnus CRS-22 (NG 22) | - | 202x | CC | Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) | ||
Cygnus CRS-23 (NG 23) | - | 202x | WI LC-0A | Antares-330 | ||
Cygnus CRS-24 (NG 24) | - | 202x | WI LC-0A | Antares-330 | ||
Cygnus CRS-25 (NG 25) | - | 202x | WI LC-0A | Antares-330 |
Further Cygnus missions:
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Further ISS missions: ISS complex
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