Saturday’s Atlas V Launch To The International Space Station

A rocket launch to supply cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) by American aerospace manufacturer Orbital ATK has been pushed back due to adverse weather conditions.

United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket, a joint venture between Boeing Co.

Rocket/Payload: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 will launch Orbital ATK’s Cygnus™ spacecraft on the initial leg of its cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

It’s another no-go for the first space station supply run in months from the U.S.

Launch Notes: OA-4 will mark the 60th launch of the Atlas V and the 30th launch in the 401 configuration.

The Cygnus spacecraft that was scheduled to liftoff Thursday has about 7,700 lbs cargo. The operation was scrubbed at 6:11 when thick clouds and the possibility of rain hadn’t cleared as a launch window was closing. The next opportunity is at 5:33 p.m. (2233 GMT) on Friday. The ban does not affect commercial and civilian government customers like the US space agency, but it will keep Orbital from offering Antares as launcher for USA military satellites. In October 2014, Antares rocket exploded a few seconds after the liftoff. It was Orbital’s third launch under NASA’s $1.9 billion contract to lift off eight resupply missions. The original S.S. Deke Slayton was the cargo craft lost in last year’s explosion. Also aboard are two Microsoft HoloLens headsets, which will provide station crew – and onlookers in ground control centers – with digitally enhanced images of whatever the astronauts are looking at.

Mission Description:Cygnus is a low-risk design incorporating elements drawn from Orbital ATK and its partners’ existing, flight-proven spacecraft technologies.

Also aboard the newest Cygnus capsule: clothes, toiletries, spacewalking gear, air-supply tanks and science experiments. SpaceX, meanwhile, aims to restart station deliveries in January with its Falcon rockets.

The Antares carried out three station shipments before trouble with the old Russian-built rocket engines doomed the fourth flight.