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Cygnus-PCM (enhanced)

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:

  • Antares, a new medium-class launch vehicle being developed by Orbital
  • Cygnus, an advanced maneuvering spacecraft, and
  • Several interchangeable modules for pressurized and unpressurized cargo.

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
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
Cygnus CRS-4 (OA 4, S.S. 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, S.S. Alan Poindexter) 2016-062A 17.10.2016 WI LC-0A Antares-230 with Lemur-2 14, ..., 17
Cygnus CRS-6 (OA 6, S.S. 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, S.S. 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, S.S. 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, S.S. 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, S.S. John Young) 2018-092A 17.11.2018 WI LC-0A Antares-230 with CHEFsat 2, KickSat 2, MYSAT 1
Cygnus CRS-11 (NG 11E, S.S. 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, S.S. 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, S.S. 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, S.S. 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, S.S. 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, S.S. Ellison Onizuka) 2021-072A 10.08.2021 WI LC-0A Antares-230+
Cygnus CRS-17 (NG 17, S.S. Piers Sellers) 2022-015A 19.02.2022 WI LC-0A Antares-230+ with KITSUNE, NACHOS 1, IHI-Sat
Cygnus CRS-18 (NG 18, S.S. 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, S.S. Laurel Clark) 2023-110A 02.08.2023 WI LC-0A Antares-230+
Cygnus CRS-20 (NG 20, S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson) 2024-021A 30.01.2024 CC SLC-40 Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5)
Cygnus CRS-21 (NG 21) - 2023 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

References:

Further Cygnus missions:

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