The US launched a rocket that was created with the help of Ukrainians
The American Antares launch vehicle (LV), created in cooperation with Ukraine, was successfully launched from a cosmodrome in the United States as part of a NASA contract to provide commercial supply services (CRS) to the International Space Station (ISS), a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to the press service of the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau (Dnepropetrovsk), the launch took place on April 17 at 23:46 Kiev time (16:46 North American Eastern time) from the launch pad of the Space Flight Center on Wallops Island (Virginia, USA).
“As part of the launch, the Cygnus cargo ship was launched into orbit, which should deliver about 3750 kg of payload to the ISS ordered by NASA - provisions and equipment for the crew, equipment and materials for scientific experiments, equipment for the station and spacewalks, computers and components , as well as two research satellites of the cubesat format - CAPSat and HARP. The docking of Cygnus with the ISS is scheduled for April 19,” the message notes.
The main developer of the Antares launch vehicle is the American corporation Northrop Grumman. The Cygnus NG-11 Roger B. Chaffee spacecraft is named after American astronaut Roger Bruce Chaffee.
The main design of the first stage of the PH Antares launch vehicle was developed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau and manufactured by the YuMZ State Enterprise (Dnepr). “The preparation of the PH for launch, its testing and launch were carried out with the participation of Ukrainian specialists. According to the contract, technical support for the launch, reception and processing of telemetric information in real time was carried out from the territory of the Yuzhnoye SDO,” the press service reports.
“This Antares mission uses late loading technology for the first time. Previously, the ship was loaded approximately four days before launch. With the help of new technology, this time was reduced to 24 hours,” notes the KBYU.
As reported, in 2008, the Ukrainian State Enterprise Yuzhnoye Design Bureau and State Enterprise Yuzhmash signed a long-term contract until 2019 with the American Orbital Science Corp. for the development and production of the first stage of the Antares launch vehicle to provide commercial resupply services (CRS) to the International Space Station (ISS) under a contract with NASA. The production of the Cygnus truck, which ensures the delivery of cargo to the ISS using the Antares launch vehicle, was provided by the European Thales Alenia Space. The Ukrainian companies Khartron-ARKOS, Khartron-YUKOM, CheZaRa, and Rapid also participate in the cooperation on the project.
Since 2013, the program has provided 11 launches, eight of them using the Antares launch vehicle, three launches, due to the launch vehicle accident in October 2014, using the American Atlas 5 launch vehicle.
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