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Cygnus

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Cygnus Mass Simulato Credit: Manufacturer Image

AKA: Orb. Status: Operational 2013. First Launch: 2013-04-21. Last Launch: 2014-10-28. Number: 5 . Gross mass: 5,000 kg (11,000 lb).

Photo Gallery

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Cygnus-PCM Credit: Manufacturer Image

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Cygnus-PCM Credit: Manufacturer Image

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Cygnus-UCM Credit: Manufacturer Image

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Cygnus-RCM Credit: Manufacturer Image

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Orb-3 SS Deke Slayto Credit: Manufacturer Image

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• Cygnus Mass Simulator - . Mass: 4,000 kg (8,800 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: OSC. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: Cygnus. Decay Date: 2013-04-27 . USAF Sat Cat: 39142 . COSPAR: 2013-016A. Apogee: 161 km (100 mi). Perigee: 153 km (95 mi). Inclination: 51.61 deg. Period: 87.63 min.

  First launch of the Antares launch vehicle, combining surplus rocket engines from the Soviet N1 moon rocket program with US-built components. The mass simulator carried instrumentation to measure the launch vehicle environment in preparation for future launches of the Cygnus spacecraft designed to carry cargo to the International Space Station. It also released four cubesats into independent orbits.

• SS G David Low - . Payload: Cygnus OD-1. Mass: 4,127 kg (9,098 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: OSC. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: Cygnus. Duration: 35.00 days. Decay Date: 2013-10-23 . USAF Sat Cat: 39258 . COSPAR: 2013-051A. Apogee: 414 km (257 mi). Perigee: 411 km (255 mi). Inclination: 51.65 deg. Period: 92.81 min.

  First Orbital Sciences Cygnus ISS resupply spacecraft. Named SS G. David Low after the late astronaut, son of the former NASA administrator, and Orbital employee. The Cygnus consisted of a pressurized cargo module (PCM) built by Thales Alenia in Torino, and a service module (SM) built by Orbital/Dulles. The craft carried 700 kg of cargo. Intiial orbit was 261 km x 277 km x 51.6 deg; at 20:07 GMT this was raised to 274 km x 384 km. On 22 September the first attempt at rendezvous with the ISS was cancelled due to a software problem in the GPS navigation system; Cygnus passed ISS at a distance of 4 km at 08:45 GMT. On 29 September Cygnus completed its rendezvous with ISS, reaching a 250 m hold point at 09:08 GMT. The SSRMS arm captured Cygnus at 11:00 GMT, and after berthing to the Harmony module of the ISS he astronauts began unloading the ship's cargo. Cygnus unberthed from Harmony at 10:04 GMT on 22 October and was released into a 415 x 419 km orbit by the SSRMS at 11:31 GMT. On 23 October Cygnus conducted its retrofire burn at 17:41 GMT, and burnt up at 18:16 GMT over the South Pacific.

• SS C Gordon Fullerton - . Payload: Cygnus OA-1. Mass: 4,127 kg (9,098 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: OSC. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: Cygnus. Duration: 41.00 days. Decay Date: 2014-02-19 . USAF Sat Cat: 39502 . COSPAR: 2014-003A. Apogee: 407 km (252 mi). Perigee: 402 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.64 deg. Period: 92.66 min.

  Delivered 1,261 kg of cargo to the ISS. The Cygnus cargo ship SS C. Gordon Fullerton entered an initial 221 x 259 km x 51.6 deg orbit to begin its rendezvous sequence with ISS. Arrived at 250 metres from ISS at 10:01 GMT January 12; moved in to the 10 m capture position; then captured by the Canadarm-2 at 11:08 GMT and berthed on the Harmony module's nadir port at 13:05 GMT. It contained 1465 kg of cargo for ISS, including two bags with a total mas of 152 kg containing a set of 28 Dove 3U Earth-observing cubesats (about 5 kg each) for Planet Labs and five 1U/2U cubesats. Unberthed from the Harmony module and released by the robot arm at 11:42 GMT 18 February. After two orbital maneuvers Cygnus underwent destructive reentry over the Pacific with loss of signal at 18:23 GMT February 19. First launch of Orbital's Antares 120 variant, with a more powerful ATK Castor 30B second stage replacing the Castor 30 used on earlier flights.

• SS Janice Voss - . Payload: Cygnus OA-2. Mass: 3,500 kg (7,700 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: OSC. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: Cygnus. Duration: 35.00 days. Decay Date: 2014-08-17 . USAF Sat Cat: 40084 . COSPAR: 2014-039A. Apogee: 407 km (252 mi). Perigee: 386 km (239 mi). Inclination: 51.65 deg. Period: 92.48 min.

  Delivered 1,494 kg of cargo to the ISS. After rendezvous with the ISS the station's SSRMS arm grappled it at 10:36 GMT on July 16 and berthed it to the Harmony module at 12:53 GMT. Unberthed at 09:14 GMT on August 15 and released by Canadarm-2 at 10:40 GMT. Deorbited and reentered at 13:15 GMT on 17 August over the South Pacific.

• SS Deke Slayton - . Payload: Cygnus OA-3. Mass: 3,500 kg (7,700 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: OSC. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: Cygnus.

  The Orbital Cygnus Orb-3 cargo ship; destroyed during launch. As well as ISS cargo, the Orb-3 mission was carrying 26 PlanetLabs Flock-1d 3U cubesats, the JPL/U-Texas RACE 3U cubesat, the Arkyd-3 3U cubesat from Planetary Resources, and also the GOMX-2 ship tracking 2U cubesat from GOMX of Aalborg, Denmark.

• SS Deke Slayton II - . Payload: Cygnus OA-4. Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: OSC. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: Cygnus. Decay Date: 2016-02-20 . USAF Sat Cat: 41101 . COSPAR: 2015-072A. Apogee: 418 km (259 mi). Perigee: 404 km (251 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  United Launch Alliance launched Atlas V flight AV-061 carrying the Cygnus OA-4 cargo ship mission. Following the Antares failure in the prior year, Cygnus payloads were temporarily moved to Atlas. The OA-4 Cygnus, called 'SS Deke Slayton II', was the first Cygnus with the enhanced (stretched) EPCM pressurized cargo module, and the first with a service module carrying the circular UltraFlex solar arrays originally designed for NASA's Orion. This was the first time an Atlas launched a payload towards the ISS. The AV-061 Centaur reached a 234 x 237 km orbit at 2203 UTC, released Cygnus 3 min later, and performed a 10s deorbit burn at 2232 UTC for disposal of the Centaur in the ocean south of Australia at about 132E 49S. The Deke Slayton II reached the ISS on Dec 9, with SSRMS grapple at 1119 UTC and berthing on Harmony at 1426 UTC. Aboard the Cygnus were the small NovaWurks SIMPL satellite, 12 Flock 2e cubesats from Planet Labs, and the CADRE, STMSat-1, MinXSS-1, Nodes 1 and Nodes 2 cubesats. Mass of ISS after the OA-4 arrival was 418 metric tons. The Canadarm-2 unberthed the Cygnus OA-4 cargo ship, SS Deke Slayton II, from the Unity node on Feb 19 at 1040 UTC and released it into orbit at about 1227 UTC. The Cygnus was deorbited over the S Pacific at about 1600 UTC Feb 20.

• SS Rick Husband - . Payload: Cygnus OA-5. Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: OSC. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: Cygnus. Decay Date: 2016-06-22 . USAF Sat Cat: 41393 . COSPAR: 2016-019A. Apogee: 250 km (150 mi). Perigee: 240 km (140 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  Cygnus cargo ship OA-6, "SS Rick Husband", was launched aboard Atlas V flight AV-064. A mixture ratio problem on the Atlas caused an 5-seconds-early first stage cutoff, which required a full extra minute's burn on the Centaur upper stage to make the correct orbit. After deploying Cygnus, the Centaur's second burn was intended to deorbit the stage south of Australia, but because of insufficient remaining propellant the engine cutoff early, and reentry occurred downrange south of New Zealand. SS Rick Husband arrived at the ISS on schedule, and was grappled by the Canadarm-2 at 1051 UTC Mar 26. On Jun 14 the Canadarm-2 unberthed Cygnus OA-6 from the Unity module at 1143 UTC and released it into orbit at 1330 UTC. Cygnus then performed the SAFIRE-1 experiment igniting a significant fire inside an experiment chamber in the Cygnus pressurized PCM module. Mounted on the Cygnus service module was the first NRCSD-E external cubesat deployer carrying 5 Lemur-2 satellites. On Jun 21 two pairs of Lemur-2 cubesats were ejected. A third deployer silo with a single Lemur-2 failed to open, and the cubesat remained inside when then following day Cygnus made its deorbit burn and reentered over the South Pacific at 1329 UTC Jun 22.

• SS Alan Poindexter - . Payload: Cygnus OA-6. Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: OSC. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: Cygnus. Decay Date: 2016-11-28 . USAF Sat Cat: 41818 . COSPAR: 2016-062A. Apogee: 395 km (245 mi). Perigee: 373 km (231 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship, the SS Alan Poindexter, was launched on mission OA-5. The launch was the first flight of the Antares 230 rocket, featuring a first stage with two Energomash RD-181 engines replacing the Kuznetsov/Aerojet AJ-26 engines used on earlier Antares missions (which were implicated in the Oct 2014 Antares 130 failure), and a second stage with the Castor 30XL solid motor. The Castor 30XL was on the previous Antares launch but didn't get a chance to fire because of the first stage failure, so this was its first real test. In the event the rocket performed above specification and the mission reached a higher-than-planned 209 x 351 km orbit. OA-5 reached the ISS on Oct 23; it was grappled by the SSRMS at 1128 UTC and berthed to the nadir port of the Unity module at 1453 UTC. Cygnus OA-5 carried 2345 kg of pressurized cargo, and the external Nanoracks deployer with four Spire Global Lemur-2 cubesats.Cygnus cargo vehicle SS Alan Poindexter (OA-5) was unberthed from the Unity module at about 1125 UTC Nov 21 and released into space at 1322 UTC. It raised its orbit on Nov 25 to 495 x 504 km and released two pairs of Spire Global cubesats in the Lemur-2 series. Cygnus was deorbited on Nov 27, reentering over the S Pacific at 2336 UTC.

• SS John Glenn - . Payload: Cygnus OA-7. Mass: 7,221 kg (15,919 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: OSC. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: Cygnus. Decay Date: 2017-06-11 . USAF Sat Cat: 42681 . COSPAR: 2017-019A. Apogee: 412 km (256 mi). Perigee: 398 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  See Cygnus CRS-7 (OA 7, SS John Glenn). Cygnus mission OA-7, the S.S. John Glenn, was launched on ULA Atlas AV-070. The 7221 kg cargo ship carried about 140 kg of small satellites for later deployment and about 3250 kg of other cargo. OA-7 arrived at ISS on Apr 22.