The next Antares rocket launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility has been pushed back again, this time to at least July 10th, Orbital Sciences Corporation and Wallops announced on Monday.
The Orb-2 mission is the second of eight cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station under Orbital’s Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.
The launch was pushed back after an engine failure occurred in an AJ26 engine at NASA’s Stennis Space Center during testing. The engine that failed was designated for use in a 2015 mission.
The Antares team will inspect the AJ26 engines installed on the Orb-2 rocket this week, and a decision to proceed toward launch will be based on the results of the inspections.
All other elements of the Orb-2 mission are ready, including the Cygnus spacecraft, which is fueled and, except for late-load cargo, is packed with cargo for the ISS.
Click here for more details from Orbital.
Spacecraft prepped for next Wallops launch to ISS
Cygnus cargo module arrives at Wallops Island in preparation for May launch
