On the way to space: an unmanned private spacecraft

In June, the unmanned Cygnus spacecraft, called Super of the Cygnus constellation, is expected to fly towards the International Space Station. More about the spacecraft and the ambitious launch project in the article before you

By: Tal Inbar, Galileo

The International Space Station depends on frequent visits by supply spacecraft, which carry water, fuel, oxygen, food, spare parts, scientific equipment and other supplies. During the years of the station's existence in its manned state (the International Space Station has been manned continuously since 2000), the supplies were transported in a variety of ways, which included the American space shuttles, unmanned Russian spacecraft known as "Progress", a European supply assembly (ATV), a Japanese supply spacecraft of the "Kibu" model and the SpaceX Dragon private spaceship.

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The fleet of unmanned supply spacecraft will soon be joined by another spacecraft, called "Cygnus" (after the Cygnus constellation). The spacecraft is being developed by the American company Orbital Express, as part of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services commercialization project on behalf of the American space agency NASA. The Cygnus spacecraft is expected to fly into space on a launcher known as "Antars" (a prominent star in the Cygnus constellation), which is also being developed by Orbital Express.

The maiden launch of the spacecraft is planned for June 2013, and it is extremely ambitious - it should constitute both the first launch of the spacecraft into space, an examination of a series of maneuvers in Earth's orbit, and a docking at the International Space Station (for comparison, the SpaceX company performed an orbital flight of the Dragon spacecraft to examine its systems before a mission to the International Space Station was carried out).

the launcher

The Antares launcher is two-stage, and is powered by liquid fuel (a combination of kerosene and liquid oxygen) for the first stage, and solid fuel for the second stage. Its height is 40.5 meters, and its diameter is 3.9 meters. Its weight at the time of launch is about 240 thousand kg. Its carrying capacity for low earth orbit (LEO) is 5,000 kg. The company has a plan to add a third stage, which will allow the placement of satellites in higher orbits, as well as the precise placement of satellites using a maneuverable third stage, which is equipped with a liquid propulsion system. It is interesting to note that the first stage engines are based on the Russian NK-33 engine, an old engine that is used, among other things, in the Russian "Zenit" series satellite launchers.

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the spaceship

The Cygnus spacecraft consists of two assemblies: a pressurized cargo compartment (that is, including pressurized air that allows astronauts from the space station to enter it without space suits), and a service compartment. The trunk is developed and manufactured by the Italian company Thales Alenia Space, and its volume is 18 cubic meters. The service cabin, which includes maneuvering engines and a power generation system based on solar cells, is being developed by Orbital Express.

Unlike the Dragon spacecraft, the Cygnus spacecraft does not have the ability to return to Earth, and at the end of the supply mission it will be separated from the International Space Station and sent into an orbit that will bring it into the Earth's atmosphere in order to burn up the spacecraft (currently this procedure is performed for the Progress spacecraft and the supply spacecraft from Japan and Europe. The space station crews use these spacecraft to remove trash from the space station).

The ability to transfer the cargo to the International Space Station using the Cygnus spacecraft is, in the first stage, about 2,000 kg. The spacecraft can be connected to the space station for about a month before disconnecting. The Orbital Express company is also developing a return cabin, which will be equipped with a heat shield as usual, and through which it will be possible to return certain cargoes from the International Space Station to Earth. An enlarged model will be able to carry a 2,700 kg payload to the space station.

After the experiments of the spacecraft in space, and the start of regular space flights to the International Space Station, the ability to support the crews of astronauts living there will be improved. It is also possible that the entry into service of this spacecraft will accelerate the transition of the Dragon spacecraft to the launch of humans to the station - to a spacecraft capable of launching and returning seven people - and the work of regular supplies will be assigned to simpler and more expendable spacecraft such as Cygnus and Progress.