Orbital Sciences Corp. aims to launch its next cargo delivery mission to the international space station (ISS) Dec. 17, the company said in a statement emailed to the press Nov. 26.
The Dulles, Va., company had been aiming for a Dec. 15 liftoff but pushed back the launch date following a Nov. 21 program review at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Orbital said.
In October, Orbital completed a demonstration cargo delivery mission to station using its Cygnus space freighter and Antares rocket launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The December flight will be the first of eight delivery-and-disposal missions Orbital owes NASA under the $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract it won in 2008.
