Development
The NASA COTS award was for US$171 million; Orbital Sciences expects to invest $150 million in addition, split between $130 million for the booster and $20 million for the spacecraft. As of April 2012, development costs are estimated at $ 472 million.
On 10 June 2008 it was announced that the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, formerly part of the Wallops Flight Facility, in Virginia, would be the primary launch site for the rocket. Launch pad 0A (LP-0A), which is the former launch pad for the failed Conestoga rocket will be modified to handle Antares. A launch from Wallops would reach the International Space Station's orbit as effectively as from Cape Canaveral, Florida, while being less crowded. The first Antares flight will launch a Cygnus mass simulator.
On December 10, 2009 Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) test fired their Castor 30 motor for use as the second stage of the Antares rocket. In March 2010 Orbital Sciences and Aerojet completed test firings of the NK-33 engines. On 22 February 2013 a hot fire test was successfully performed, the entire first stage was erected on the pad and held down while the engines fired for 29 seconds.
Read more about this topic: Antares (rocket)
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