Northrop Grumman launched its last Antares 230+ rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia at 00:31 UTC on August the 2nd 2023. The rocket was carrying a Cygnus Spacecraft that will dock to the ISS on the 4th of August 2023 to deliver Science and crew supplies. This was the nineteenth Cygnus launch to the International Space Station.
What is Antares 230+?
Antares 230+ is a two-stage rocket designed to send the Cygnus spacecraft toward the International Space Station for resupply missions from Wallops Island, Virginia. The first stage of the rocket is powered by two RD-181 engines from Russia generating 392 tons of thrust and burning kerosene and liquid oxygen for 215 seconds. The second stage of the rocket is a Castor 30XL solid rocket motor generating 48 tons of thrust burning Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene and aluminum for 156 seconds.
Antares 230+ is being retired due to Northrop Grumman being unable to source the RD-181 engines from Russia and major problems with its first-stage production supply chain in Ukraine. Northrop Grumman has since contracted Firefly Aerospace to build the Antares 300 first-stage using seven Miranda engines as a replacement launch vehicle for the Cygnus spacecraft.
What is Cygnus?
The Cygnus spacecraft is a resupply vehicle for the International Space Station that carries up to 3500 kilograms of science experiments and crew supplies. Cygnus is manufactured by Northrop Grumman as part of NASA's commercial resupply services program. Eighteen Cygnus spacecraft have berthed to the International Space Station, as of the 1st of August 2023, with one being lost during launch on Antares 130 for the mission Orbital-3.
