Cygnus 1
- In Space: No
- Height: 5.1 m
- Diameter: 3.07 m
- Status: Single Use
The Cygnus 1 spacecraft embarked on 1 flight(s), showcasing its capability of Cargo Earth Orbit Logistics and designed with a flight life of 1 Week to 2 Years design life.. Notably, it boasts a crew capacity accommodating up to Array astronauts and a payload capacity of 2000 kg.
Cygnus Orb-D1, also known as Cygnus 1 and Orbital Sciences COTS Demo Flight, was the first flight of the Cygnus unmanned resupply spacecraft developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation. It was named after the late NASA astronaut and Orbital Sciences executive G. David Low. The flight was carried out by Orbital Sciences under contract to NASA as Cygnus’ demonstration mission in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. Cygnus was the seventh type of spacecraft to visit the ISS, after the manned Soyuz and Space Shuttle, and unmanned Progress, ATV, HTV and Dragon.
Launches
History
Cygnus is a spacecraft developed originally by Orbital ATK and then aquired by Northrup Grumman after an aquisition. It is used to transport cargo to the ISS.
The first operational mission of Cygnus to the ISS was in September 2013.
One flight on 28 October 2014 ended in a failure when the Antares launch vehicle, used to launch the Cygnus, exploded shortly after launch. This set back the Cygnus launch schedule over a year. Following the launch anomaly a new version known as ‘Cygnus Enhanced’ was flown. This extended the Cygnus length and allowed it to carry an extra 700kg to the ISS.
The Cygnus spacecraft is launched aboard Antares or the Atlas V to deliver cargo to the ISS under NASAs CRS contracts. It has no heatshield so at the end of its mission its used to dispose of waste by burning up in the Earths atmosphere.
Agency
Northrop Grumman Space Systems
Northrup Grumman Space Systems designs, builds and delivers space, defence and aviation-related systems to customers around the world. They aquired Orbital ATK in 2018 along with its launchers and ongoing missions.
