Antares
Launch of an Antares 230
FunctionMedium expendable launch system
ManufacturerNorthrop Grumman (main)
Pivdenmash (sub)[1]
Country of originUnited States, Ukraine
Project costUS$472 million until 2012[2]
Cost per launchUS$80−85 million[3]
Size
Height
  • 110/120: 40.5 m (133 ft)[4][5]
  • 130: 41.9 m (137 ft)
  • 230/230+: 42.5 m (139 ft)[6]
Diameter3.9 m (13 ft)[7][6]
Mass
  • 110/120/130: 282,000–296,000 kg (622,000–653,000 lb)[5]
  • 230/230+: 298,000 kg (657,000 lb)[6]
Stages2 to 3[7]
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass8,000 kg (18,000 lb)[8]
Associated rockets
ComparableDelta II, Atlas III
Launch history
Status
  • 110: retired
  • 120: retired
  • 130: retired
  • 230: retired
  • 230+: retired
  • 300: Planned
Launch sitesMARS, LP-0A
Total launches18 (110: 2, 120: 2, 130: 1, 230: 5, 230+: 8)
Success(es)17 (110: 2, 120: 2, 130: 0, 230: 5, 230+: 8)
Failure(s)1 (130: 1)
First flight
  • 110: April 21, 2013
  • 120: January 9, 2014
  • 130: October 28, 2014
  • 230: October 17, 2016
  • 230+: November 2, 2019
Last flight
  • 110: September 18, 2013
  • 120: July 13, 2014
  • 130: October 28, 2014
  • 230: April 17, 2019
  • 230+: August 2, 2023
Type of passengers/cargoCygnus
First stage (Antares 100-series)
Empty mass18,700 kg (41,200 lb)[5]
Gross mass260,700 kg (574,700 lb)[5]
Powered by2 × NK-33[9]
Maximum thrust3,265 kN (734,000 lbf)[9]
Specific impulseSea level: 297 s
Vacuum: 331 s[5]
Burn time235 seconds[5]
PropellantRP-1/LOX[9]
First stage (Antares 200-series)
Empty mass20,600 kg (45,400 lb)[6]
Gross mass262,600 kg (578,900 lb)[6]
Powered by2 × RD-191
Maximum thrust3,844 kN (864,000 lbf)[6]
Specific impulseSea level: 311.9 s
Vacuum: 339.2 s[6]
Burn time215 seconds[6]
PropellantRP-1/LOX
Second stage – Castor 30A/B/XL
Gross mass
  • 30A: 14,035 kg (30,942 lb)
  • 30B: 13,970 kg (30,800 lb)
  • 30XL: 26,300 kg (58,000 lb)[5]
Propellant mass
  • 30A: 12,815 kg (28,252 lb)
  • 30B: 12,887 kg (28,411 lb)[5]
  • 30XL: 24,200 kg (53,400 lb)[6]
Maximum thrust
  • 30A: 259 kN (58,200 lbf)
  • 30B: 293.4 kN (65,960 lbf)[9][5]
  • 30XL: 474 kN (107,000 lbf)[10]
Burn time
  • 30A: 136 seconds
  • 30B: 127 seconds
  • 30XL: 156 seconds[5][6]
PropellantTP-H8299/aluminium[11]
[edit on Wikidata]

Antares has been launched a total of 18 times since April 2013. All of the launches have been successful, except for Cygnus CRS Orb-3.

About the Antares

Antares (/ænˈtɑːriːz/), known during early development as Taurus II, is an expendable launch system developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation (later part of Northrop Grumman) and the Pivdenne Design Bureau to launch the Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA's COTS and CRS programs. Able to launch payloads heavier than 8,000 kg (18,000 lb) into low Earth orbit, Antares is the largest rocket operated by Northrop Grumman. Antares launches from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport and made its inaugural flight on April 21, 2013.[12]

NASA awarded Orbital a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Space Act Agreement (SAA) in 2008 to demonstrate delivery of cargo to the International Space Station. Orbital (and later Northrop Grumman) used Antares to launch its Cygnus spacecraft for these missions. As of August 2023 it has only been used for Cygnus launches to the ISS, despite it being intended for commercial launches. Originally designated the Taurus II, Orbital Sciences renamed the vehicle Antares, after the star of the same name,[13] on December 12, 2011.

Out of 18 total launches, Antares has suffered one failure. During the fifth launch on October 28, 2014, the rocket failed catastrophically, and the vehicle and payload were destroyed.[14] The rocket's first-stage engines were identified as the cause for the failure. A different engine was chosen for subsequent launches, and the rocket had a successful return to flight on October 17, 2016.

The Antares has flown two major design iterations, the 100 series and 200 series. Both series have used a Castor 30XL as an upper stage but have differed on the first stage.[15] The 100 series used two Kerolox powered AJ26 engines in the first stage and launched successfully four times. The 100 series was retired following a launch failure in 2014.[16] The 200 series which first flew in 2016 also featured a Kerolox first stage but instead used two RD-181 engines along with other minor upgrades. The 200 series future became uncertain following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Due to the first stage being produced in Ukraine and the engines in Russia, future production of the rocket was unable to be continued.[15] As a result Northrop Grumman entered into an agreement with Firefly Aerospace to build the first stage of the Antares 300 series. Northrop also contracted with SpaceX for 3 Falcon 9 launches.[17]

Launch statistics

Rocket configurations[edit]

1
2
3
  •   Antares 110
  •   Antares 120
  •   Antares 130
  •   Antares 230
  •   Antares 230+

Launch outcomes[edit]

1
2
3
2013
'14
'15
'16
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
  •   Failure
  •   Partial failure
  •   Success
  •   Scheduled

Launch contractor[edit]

1
2
3
2013
'14
'15
'16
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23

Past launches

Flight No. Date / time (UTC) Rocket variant Launch site Payload,
Spacecraft name 		Payload mass Orbit Launch contractor User Launch
outcome
1 April 21, 2013
21:00 		Antares 110 MARS Pad 0A
Low Earth Orbital Sciences Corporation NASA Success
Antares A-ONE, Antares test flight, using a Castor 30A second stage and no third stage.[12][18]
2 September 18, 2013
14:58 		Antares 110 MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (standard) Orb-D1
G. David Low[19] 		700 kg
(1,543 lb)[20] 		Low Earth (ISS) Orbital Sciences Corporation NASA Success
Orbital Sciences COTS demonstration flight. First Antares mission with a real Cygnus capsule, first mission to rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station, second launch of Antares. The rendezvous maneuver was delayed due to a computer data link problem,[21] but the issue was resolved and berthing followed shortly thereafter.[22][23]
3 January 9, 2014
18:07 		Antares 120 MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (standard) CRS Orb-1
C. Gordon Fullerton[19] 		1,260 kg
(2,780 lb)[24] 		Low Earth (ISS) Orbital Sciences Corporation NASA Success
First Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) mission for Cygnus, and first Antares launch using the Castor 30B upper stage.[25][26]
4 July 13, 2014
16:52 		Antares 120 MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (standard) CRS Orb-2
Janice Voss[27] 		1,494 kg
(3,293 lb)[28] 		Low Earth (ISS) Orbital Sciences Corporation NASA Success
Spacecraft carried supplies for the ISS, including research equipment, crew provisions, hardware, and science experiments.[29]
5 October 28, 2014
22:22 		Antares 130 MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (standard) CRS Orb-3
Deke Slayton[30] 		2,215 kg
(4,883 lb)[31] 		Low Earth (ISS) Orbital Sciences Corporation NASA Failure
LOX turbopump failure T+6 seconds. Rocket fell back onto the pad and exploded.[32][33][34] First Antares launch to use Castor 30XL upper stage. In addition to ISS supplies, payload included a Planetary Resources Arkyd-3 satellite[35] and a NASA JPL/UT Austin CubeSat mission named RACE.[36]
6 October 17, 2016
23:45 		Antares 230 MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS OA-5
Alan G. Poindexter[37] 		2,425 kg
(5,346 lb)[38] 		Low Earth (ISS) Orbital ATK NASA Success
First launch of Enhanced Cygnus on Orbital's new Antares 230.[39][40][41][42]
7 November 12, 2017
12:19 		Antares 230 MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS OA-8E
Gene Cernan[43] 		3,338 kg
(7,359 lb)[44] 		Low Earth (ISS) Orbital ATK NASA Success
8 May 21, 2018
08:44 		Antares 230 MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS OA-9E
J.R. Thompson[45] 		3,350 kg
(7,386 lb)[46] 		Low Earth (ISS) Orbital ATK NASA Success
Spacecraft carried ISS hardware, crew supplies, and scientific payloads, including the Cold Atom Lab and the Biomolecule Extraction and Sequencing Technology experiment.[46] The Cygnus also demonstrated boosting the station's orbital velocity for the first time, by 0.06 meter per second.[47]
9 November 17, 2018
09:01 		Antares 230 MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS NG-10
John Young 		3,416 kg
(7,531 lb) 		Low Earth (ISS) NGIS NASA Success
Largest number of satellites launched on a single rocket (108). Cygnus NG-10, CHEFsat 2, Kicksat 2, 104 Sprite Chipsats (deployed from Kicksat 2), MYSAT 1.
10 April 17, 2019
20:46 		Antares 230 MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS NG-11
Roger Chaffee[48] 		3,447 kg (7,600 lbs) Low Earth (ISS) NGIS NASA Success
Launched the last mission under the Commercial Resupply Services-1 for Cygnus.[48]
11 November 2, 2019
13:59 		Antares 230+ MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS NG-12
Alan Bean[49] 		3,728 kg (8,221 lbs) Low Earth (ISS) NGIS NASA Success
Cygnus NG-12 is the first mission under the NASA Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract. NG-12 is also the first to use upgraded launcher, Antares 230+.
12 February 15, 2020
20:21 		Antares 230+ MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS NG-13
Robert Lawrence, Jr. 		3,377 kg (7,445 lbs) Low Earth (ISS) NGIS NASA Success
13 October 3, 2020
01:16 		Antares 230+ MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS NG-14
Kalpana Chawla 		3,458 kg (7,624 lbs)[50] Low Earth (ISS) NGIS NASA Success
Spacecraft carried ISS hardware, crew supplies, and scientific payloads, including a new toilet (Universal Waste Management System, UWMS), Ammonia Electrooxidation, radishes for Plant Habitat-02, drugs for targeted cancer treatments with Onco-Selectors, and a customized 360-degree camera to capture future spacewalks.[51][50]
14 February 20, 2021
17:36 		Antares 230+ MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS NG-15
Katherine Johnson 		3,810 kg (8399 lbs)[52] Low Earth (ISS) NGIS NASA Success
This mission carried over 8,000 pounds of cargo including roundworms to study muscle loss and the Spaceborne Computer 2, as well as an experiment to study the protein-based manufacturing of artificial retinas.[53]
15 August 10, 2021
22:01 		Antares 230+ MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS NG-16
Ellison Onizuka 		3,723 kg (8210 lbs)[54] Low Earth (ISS) NGIS NASA Success
16 February 19, 2022
17:40 		Antares 230+ MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS NG-17
Piers Sellers 		3,800 kg (8,400 lb)[55] Low Earth (ISS) NGIS NASA Success
17 November 7, 2022
10:32 		Antares 230+ MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS NG-18
Sally Ride 		3,652 kg (8,051 lb)[56] Low Earth (ISS) NGIS NASA Success
18 August 2, 2023
00:31 		Antares 230+ MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS NG-19
Laurel Clark 		3,729 kg (8,221 lb)[57] Low Earth (ISS) NGIS NASA Success
Final Antares 230+ launch.

Note: Cygnus CRS OA-4, the first Enhanced Cygnus mission, and Cygnus OA-6 were propelled by Atlas V 401 launch vehicles while the new Antares 230 was in its final stages of development. Cygnus CRS OA-7 was also switched to an Atlas V 401 and launched on April 18, 2017

Future launches

Date / time (UTC) Rocket variant Launch site Payload Orbit User
June 2025[58] Antares 330 MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS NG-23 Low Earth (ISS) NASA
First flight of the Antares 330.
January 2026[59] Antares 330 MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS NG-24 Low Earth (ISS) NASA
Second flight of the Antares 330.
2026[60] Antares 330 MARS Pad 0A Cygnus (enhanced) CRS NG-25 Low Earth (ISS) NASA
Third flight of the Antares 330.

Note: Cygnus NG-20, Cygnus NG-21, and Cygnus NG-22 will be propelled by Falcon 9 Block 5 launch vehicles while the new Antares 330 is in development.

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