Design
The first stage uses RP-1 (kerosene) and liquid oxygen (LOX) as propellants, powering two NK-33-derived engines (sold by Aerojet as AJ-26 engines). As Orbital has little experience with large liquid stages and LOX propellant, some of the Antares first stage work was contracted to Yuzhnoye SDO, designers of the Zenit series. One source claims that includes "main-stage fuel tanks and associated plumbing". The core provided by Yuzhnoye includes propellant tanks, pressurization tanks, valves, sensors, feed lines, tubing, wiring and other associated hardware. Like Zenit, the Antares vehicle will have a 3.90 m (154 in) diameter. It will have a 3.9 diameter payload fairing.
The second stage is a solid, the Castor 30, developed by ATK as a derivative of the Castor 120 solid stage, 293.4 kilonewtons (66,000 lbf) average (395.7 kilonewtons (89,000 lbf) maximum) thrust, utilizing electromechanical thrust vector control. The first two flights (Antares 110) will use a Castor 30A, the next two flights (Antares 120) will use an enhanced Castor 30B. The longer Castor 30XL second stage will be used on subsequent flights.
The optional third stages planned, are the Bi-Propellant Third Stage (BTS) and an ATK Star 48-based third stage. BTS is derived from the Orbital Science's GEOStar spacecraft bus and uses nitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine for propellant; It is intended to precisely place payloads into their final orbits. The Star 48-based stage uses a Star 48BV solid rocket motor and is planned to be used for higher energy orbits.
Read more about this topic: Antares (rocket)
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