Northrup Grumman (was Orbital Sciences) Antares / Cygnus

Like Tesla vs. Fisker.

In regards of the in-house IP of Antares, it is. But other ways, launch company founded in 80s, with 594 launches and 174 satellites built, how f... it's like Fisker? Example: SpaceX has only launched satellites made by Orbital to Geostationary orbit

HVM said:

how f... it's like Fisker?

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Fisker also used mostly outside parts.

jerry33 said:

Fisker also used mostly outside parts.

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This is also similar to the approach that Musk wanted to take at first with SpaceX, until coming to the realization that he believed it could all be done more efficiently and went to work building everything in-house to reduce costs. It's not surprising that other companies chose NOT to do this, as it is a massive undertaking.

I'm still not sure about the Antares viability long-term. Orbital has a contract with Aerojet for 32 of the first stage Russian engines (just enough to complete their 16 CRS launches for NASA). Beyond that, Aerojet only has 23 more of these Russian engines (enough for 11 more launches). Nobody is manufacturing this engine anymore (although Aerojet has offered to work with Kuznetsov to restart production). Orbital tried to buy another engine (the RD-180) but ULA blocked that and Orbital has sued.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NK-33

Should be interesting to see what Orbital does (or doesn't do) going forward. They aren't even in attempting to get themselves certified to carry humans (commerical crew). Once SpaceX, Sierra Nevada, and Boeing get this running, and Orbital is winding down it's CRS missions, I have a feeling that Orbital quietly steps aside and shelves its Antares rocket.

Interesting. So Orbital got a sweetheart deal on a bunch of obsolete (in the sense of no longer made) engines to make a competitive bid for these resupply runs?

We don't exactly know how much profit SpaceX is making from any of these flights but if they are making a decent amount of profit then they are really sweeping the board in pricing. To be competitive or beating the price of a company getting discount rates on it's parts is just a game changer.

Orbital's 3rd resupply mission suffered a rocket failure shortly after liftoff.

10/28/14 Orbital Sciences re supply mission failure

Here is the live stream Orbital Sciences Commercial Resupply Launch | NASA

I don't follow this as closely as Tesla stuff.
When I first saw it I was afraid it was a SpaceX launch.
Still sad to see, but I am glad it wasn't SoaceX.

Currently they are reporting all personnel accounted for with no injuries.
The supply mission was an unmanned mission.

Edit, please delete or merge, information already posted.

Five thousand pounds of gear destined for the ISS. Wondering if their first phone call was to Elon, asking how soon a Falcon9 could be ready.

I feel so sad for all the time and effort that people must have put into the mission, just to see it end like that.

Just glad there were no injuries or fatalities.
This was supposed to be the 3rd of eight such trips, by Orbital Sciences as part of a NASA contract worth $1.9 billion.

NASA rocket explodes NOT Space X

Unmanned fortunately!!
Antares rocket explodes shortly after launch (VIDEO) | myfox8.com

I believe it was an Orbital Sciences rocket under a similar contract with NASA.

Failed Soviet Moon program byte back again? (I know NK-15 vs. NK-33/AJ26, not same thing) Maybe same the root cause as in the failed AJ26 test in may?

Bad wrap for commercial NASA programs...

Betcha they wish they used a spacex vehicle

As Elon says: "Rockets are not easy." I'm glad no one was hurt. A rocket is basically a controlled explosion. It only takes one very minor flaw to create a catastrophic event like we saw.

The Antares uses a Russian engine very similar to the RD-180 engines used on the Atlas 5. It is the NK-33. It is reworked by Rocketdyne and given a new designation to the AJ26. There was a significant engine failure during testing in May.

Antares Rocket Engine Suffers Significant Failure During Testing

NK-33 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

setherme said:

I believe it was an Orbital Sciences rocket under a similar contract with NASA.

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Yes, it was Orbital Sciences which is a publicly traded company. It's shares are down about 17% in after hours trading compared with the regular hours closing price. SpaceX is a privately held company.

Elon Musk tweets his sorrow to Orbital Sciences: Elon Musk on Twitter:

Yep. Rockets are indeed a "tricky thing". Hope SpaceX has a rocket ready to go. Not sure how much food margin they're running with at the ISS these days.

teslasguy said:

Yep. Rockets are indeed a "tricky thing". Hope SpaceX has a rocket ready to go. Not sure how much food margin they're running with at the ISS these days.

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Progress Oct 29. Dragon Dec 9.

NASA to Hold News Conference Following Orbital Launch Mishap Tonight | NASA

Besides the delay in determining what went wrong it appears there will be considerable work to fix the damaged pad.