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10 Years Ago: The First Operational Cygnus Cargo Mission to the Space Station


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To replace the cargo and crew transportation services to and from the International Space Station following the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011, the United States developed a novel approach to procure those services from American commercial entities. On Jan. 9, 2014, Orbital Sciences Corporation, one of two companies selected initially to provide cargo transportation services, launched the first operational mission of its Cygnus spacecraft. During its one-month stay at the space station, the onboard Expedition 38 crew unloaded its cargo and then filled it with trash and unneeded equipment before releasing it for a destructive reentry. The novel approach of the government procuring services provided by private companies opened a new chapter in human space exploration.

Photo of the Timeline of the first phase of Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) activities.
Timeline of the first phase of Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) activities.

On Jan. 14, 2004, President George W. Bush announced the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE). In addition to proposing a return to the Moon, the VSE saw the retirement of the space shuttle after completing space station assembly. The VSE encouraged NASA to acquire commercial cargo services to the space station as soon as practical, and NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin established the Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office (C3PO) in November 2005. The program inaugurated a new business model for the space agency that instead of traditional procurement contracts with private enterprise to deliver hardware and services, NASA now relied on the companies investing their own capital to develop the needed spacecraft and rockets. The agency then purchased the transportation services from the companies. The C3PO devised a two-phase process to develop cargo resupply services to the space station – the Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) program for commercial entities to develop and demonstrate reliable commercial services followed by the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program to actually deliver cargo to the space station. On Aug. 18, 2006, NASA announced that Space Exploration Corporation (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based Rocketplane Kistler (RpK) had won the first round of the COTS competition and signed Space Act Agreements (SAAs) with the two companies. In October 2007, NASA terminated the agreement with RpK since the company hadn’t raised enough capital. Following a second round of competitions, NASA selected and signed a SAA with Orbital Sciences Corporation (Orbital) of Dulles, Virginia, on Feb. 19, 2008.

Workers integrate the Cygnus mass simulator with its Antares launch vehicle First launch of an Antares rocket in 2013, carrying a Cygnus mass simulator
Left: Workers integrate the Cygnus mass simulator with its Antares launch vehicle. Right: First launch of an Antares rocket in 2013, carrying a Cygnus mass simulator.

Italian aerospace company Thales Alenia Space built Orbital’s Cygnus cargo vehicle, relying on its experience building the European Space Agency’s Columbus research module and the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules for the space station. Orbital developed the two-stage Antares rocket to launch the Cygnus spacecraft. On Dec. 23, 2008, NASA announced the award of the first CRS contracts to SpaceX for 12 space station resupply missions using its Dragon spacecraft and to Orbital for eight missions, in 2015 adding eight more Dragon and three more Cygnus flights. On Jan. 14, 2016, a second CRS-2 contract not only guaranteed at least six more SpaceX and Orbital missions but also added a third contractor, Sparks, Nevada-based Sierra Nevada Corporation to provide at least six flights of a cargo version of their Dream Chaser reusable space plane. Orbital launched the first test flight of its Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia, on April 21, 2013, with a test payload to simulate the mass of a Cygnus spacecraft. The mission’s objectives did not include approaching the space station and the mass simulator burned up on reentry on May 10.

Liftoff of the Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus Demo 1 mission Cygnus Demo spacecraft grappled by Canadarm2 prior to berthing on the space station Expedition 37 crew member Luca S. Parmitano of the European Space Agency inside the Cygnus spacecraft during its Demo mission to the space station
Left: Liftoff of the Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus Demo 1 mission. Middle: Cygnus Demo spacecraft grappled by Canadarm2 prior to berthing on the space station. Right: Expedition 37 crew member Luca S. Parmitano of the European Space Agency inside the Cygnus spacecraft during its Demo mission to the space station.

Orbital carried out a single demonstration mission, designated Cygnus Demo 1, launching on Sep. 18, 2013. The company began a tradition of naming their spacecraft after deceased astronauts or other aerospace notables, christening this first one the G. David Low after the former astronaut and Orbital employee who died in 2008. Orbital executive and Low’s fellow Class of 1984 astronaut Frank L. Culbertson said during a preflight press conference, “We were very proud to name [it] the G. David Low.” Eleven days after its launch, Expedition 37 crew member Luca S. Parmitano from the European Space Agency grappled the spacecraft with the Canadarm2 remote manipulator system and berthed it to the station’s Node 2 Harmony module’s nadir or Earth facing port. The crew unloaded the 1,543 pounds of supplies that it brought and on Oct. 22 unberthed it, loaded with 2,850 pounds of cargo for disposal. The next day, Cygnus fired its engine to begin the fiery reentry over the Pacific Ocean. The mission completed Orbital’s flight certification for its cargo vehicle.

Liftoff of the first operational Cygnus cargo resupply mission The space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm about to capture the first operational Cygnus spacecraft named SS C. Gordon Fullerton The first Enhanced Cygnus arriving at the space station in 2015; compare against the smaller standard Cygnus
Left: Liftoff of the first operational Cygnus cargo resupply mission. Middle: The space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm about to capture the first operational Cygnus spacecraft named SS C. Gordon Fullerton. Right: The first Enhanced Cygnus arriving at the space station in 2015; compare against the smaller standard Cygnus.

The mission patch for Orbital’s first operational cargo resupply mission to the space station
The mission patch for Orbital’s first operational cargo resupply mission to the space station.

The first operational Cygnus mission, designated Orb-1, got underway on Jan. 9, 2014. The spacecraft named after NASA astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton, who died the previous year, arrived at the space station three days later. Expedition 38 crew member NASA astronaut Michael S. Hopkins used Canadarm2 to grapple and berth it to the Harmony module. The onboard crew unloaded the 2,780 pounds of supplies that the spacecraft brought to the station and unberthed it on Feb. 18. It disposed of 3,240 pounds of trash and other unneeded cargo. To date, 19 Cygnus spacecraft have lofted more than 64 tons of logistics to the space station, with only one launch failure, the Orb-3 mission in October 2014. This launch failure and one with SpaceX in June 2015 highlighted the wisdom of the decision to use two separate and independent systems to launch cargo to the space station. Beginning in late 2015, Orbital introduced an Enhanced Cygnus with a 50% increase in internal volume to carry more cargo. In addition to upgrading its spacecraft and rocket, Orbital underwent some corporate restructuring over the years, first merging with Alliant Technologies in 2015 to form Orbital ATK. In 2018 Northrup Grumman acquired Orbital ATK to form Northrup Grumman Innovation Systems. Upgrades to the space station itself, such as opening up a second berthing port on the Unity module in 2015 allowed two cargo vehicles to be docked at the same time, with a third port available in 2019 for SpaceX crew and cargo vehicles to dock directly at the station without the need for astronauts to use Canadarm2 to grapple and berth them. Beginning in 2024, a fourth port will allow four cargo and crew vehicles to remain at the station simultaneously.

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      Meanwhile, the Thad Cochran (B-2) stand was maintained for full stage testing. The space shuttle Main Propulsion Test Article was tested on the stand, as was the Common Core Booster for the Delta IV rocket. Most recently, the stand was used to test the first SLS (Space Launch System) stage that helped launch the Artemis I mission in 2022.
      In 2024, the Fred Haise Test Stand is dedicated to RS-25 engine testing for NASA’s Artemis initiative. Every RS-25 engine that will help launch an SLS rocket during Artemis will be tested on the stand. The A-2 stand has been leased to Relativity Space, which is modifying it to support stage testing for its new rocket. In 2023, the Thad Cochran (B-1) stand concluded more than 20 years of RS-68 testing for Aerojet Rocketdyne (now known as L3Harris) and now is open for commercial use. The Thad Cochran (B-2) stand is being prepared to test NASA’s new SLS exploration upper stage before it flies on a future Artemis mission.
      “When you think about the work at NASA Stennis, this is a place that helps write history,” Vander said. “And in a sense, these test stands are timeless, still operating as designed 60 years after they were built, so there is more history yet to come.”
      NASA Stennis also constructed a fourth large test structure in the 2010s. The A-3 Test Stand is uniquely designed to simulate high altitudes up to 100,000 feet for testing engines and stages that need to fire in space. Rocket Lab currently leases the A-3 Test Stand area for construction of its Archimedes Test Complex.
      Crews deliver the first RS-25 flight engine, engine No. 2059, to the Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly the A-1 Test Stand) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Nov. 4, 2015. The engine was tested to certify it for use on NASA’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. NASA/Stennis An image shows a space shuttle main engine test on the A-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on July 21, 2003. NASA/Stennis The A-3 Test Stand, designed to test fire next-generation engines at simulated altitudes up to 100,000 feet, undergoes an activation test on Feb. 24, 2014.NASA/Stennis NASA Stennis also operates a smaller test area to conduct component, subsystem, and system level testing. The area is now known as the E Test Complex and features four facilities, all developed from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.
      Construction of the E-1 Test Stand, then known as the Component Test Facility, began to support a joint project involving NASA and the U.S. Air Force project. Although the project was canceled, a second joint endeavor allowed completion of the test facility.
      Development of the E-2 Test Stand, originally known as the High Heat Flux Facility, began to support the National Aerospace Plane project. Following cancelation of the project, the facility was completed to support testing for component and engine development efforts.
      An E-3 Test Facility was constructed to support various component and small/subscale engine and booster test projects. Relativity Space leased a partially developed E-4 test area in 2018 and has since completed construction to support its commercial testing.
      All in all, the E Test Complex stands feature 12 active cells capable of various component and engine testing. The versatility of the complex infrastructure and test team allows it to support test projects for a range of commercial aerospace companies, large and small. Currently, both E-2 cells 1 and 2 are leased to Relativity Space through 2028.
      An aerial image shows the E-1 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on May 19, 2015. The versatile four-stand E Test Complex includes 12 active test cell positions capable of various component, engine, and stage test activities. NASA/Stennis An aerial image shows the E-3 test area at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on May 19, 2015. The versatile four-stand E Test Complex includes 12 active test cell positions capable of various component, engine, and stage test activities. NASA/Stennis An aerial image shows the E-2 Test Stand (Cell 1) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on May 19, 2015. The versatile four-stand E Test Complex includes 12 active test cell positions capable of various component, engine, and stage test activities. NASA/Stennis “These facilities really do not exist anywhere else in the United States,” said Kevin Power, assistant director, Office of Project Management in the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate.  “Customers come to us with requirements for certain tests of an article, and we look at what is the best place to test it based on the facility infrastructure. We have completed component level testing, all the way up to full engines.”
      The list of companies who have conducted – or are now conducting – propulsion projects in the E Test Complex reads like a who’s who of commercial aerospace leaders.
      “The E Complex illustrates the NASA Stennis story,” Power said. “We have very valuable infrastructure and resources, chief of which is the test team, who adapt to benefit NASA and meet the needs of the growing commercial aerospace industry.”
      For information about NASA’s Stennis Space Center, visit:
      Stennis Space Center – NASA
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      Last Updated Nov 13, 2024 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
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      Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
      Note: The following article is part of a series highlighting propulsion testing at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. To access the entire series, please visit: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/propulsion-powering-space-dreams/.
      An aerial image from 1965 shows the dual flame trenches of the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-1/B-2) under construction at NASA’s Stennis Space Center (then known as Mississippi Test Operations) taking shape.NASA/Stennis Since the United States sent the first humans to the Moon more than 60 years ago, NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, has answered the call to help power the nation’s space dreams.  
      “History shows NASA Stennis is the country’s premier rocket engine test site and the go-to place for propulsion testing,” NASA Stennis Director John Bailey said. “It started with Apollo and continued through space shuttle. Now, we are going back to the Moon and beyond with Artemis – and it all comes through NASA Stennis.” 
      As the nation raced to send the first humans to the Moon, NASA selected a remote location in Hancock County, Mississippi, in October 1961 to test the needed rocket stages. Thanks to a massive construction project, the site conducted its first Saturn V rocket stage test in April 1966. In the next four-plus years, NASA Stennis tested 27 Saturn V stages, including those that launched 12 astronauts to walk on the Moon.  
      “Talking to people working here during those years, you hear how much they believed in the mission,” said Joe Schuyler, director of the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate. “Their hard work helped America reach the Moon and showed us the possibilities for NASA Stennis.”   
      Construction workers bring down a tree during the early days of construction for NASA’s Stennis Space Center. Tree-cutting to start what was the largest construction project in Mississippi – and one of the largest in the United States – at the time began May 17, 1963.NASA/Stennis NASA Stennis (then known as the Mississippi Test Facility) conducts its first-ever test firing – a 15-second hot fire of the Saturn V S-II-C second stage prototype – on the A-2 Test Stand on April 23, 1966.NASA/Stennis An aerial image from early 1967 shows the completed A-2 Test Stand in the foreground and the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-1/B-2) in the background at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, then known as the Mississippi Test Facility.NASA/Stennis NASA officials view the first space shuttle main engine test on the Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly the A-1 Test Stand) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center (then known as National Space Technology Laboratories) on May 19, 1975.NASA/Stennis A 1979 image offers a close-up view of a space shuttle main propulsion test article hot fire on the B-2 side of the Thad Cochran Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center (then known as National Space Technology Laboratories). Main propulsion test article testing involved installing a shuttle fuel tank, a mockup of the shuttle orbiter and the vehicle’s three-engine configuration on the stand, then firing all three engines simultaneously, as would be done during an actual launch.NASA/Stennis As Apollo missions neared an end, plans were underway to drastically reduce the NASA Stennis footprint. Enter the space shuttle. NASA considered three locations to test engines for its new reusable vehicle before selecting NASA Stennis on March 1, 1970, ensuring the center’s future for the next several decades.  
      Space shuttle main engine testing proved challenging as the site transitioned from handling full rocket stages to firing single engines. “A big part of the challenge was the fact that teams were testing an entire engine from the very start,” NASA Test Operations Chief Maury Vander said. “Typically, you begin testing components, then progress to a full engine. Teams had a lot to learn in real time.” 
      NASA Stennis teams also tested the shuttle Main Propulsion Test Article with three engines firing simultaneously. The testing was particularly critical given the first shuttle mission would carry astronauts. 
      NASA Stennis teams worked diligently to demonstrate the shuttle system would operate safely, an effort characterized as one of the site’s finest hours. Following the first shuttle mission in 1981, astronauts Robert Crippen and John Young visited the south Mississippi site. “The effort that you contributed made it possible for us to sit back and ride,” Crippen told NASA Stennis employees. 
      From 1975 to 2009, NASA Stennis tested every main engine to help power 135 shuttle missions that enabled historic missions, such as those that deployed and repaired the Hubble Space Telescope and assembled the International Space Station, enabling its many scientific experiments and spinoff technologies. The site also tested every engine and component upgrade and helped troubleshoot performance issues. It led test campaigns following shuttle accidents to help ensure safe returns to flight. In total, the site conducted 2,307 tests for 820,475.68 seconds of accumulated hot fire. 
      NASA conducts the final test of a space shuttle main engine on the A-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on July 29, 2009. The Space Shuttle Program concluded two years later with the STS-135 shuttle mission.  NASA / Stennis An on-stand camera offers a closeup view of the first test of an RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly the A-1 Test Stand) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Jan. 9, 2015. RS-25 engines power the core stage of NASA’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) rocket.NASA/Stennis Crews at NASA’s Stennis Space Center install the first core stage of NASA’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) on the B-2 side of the Thad Cochran Test Stand on Jan. 21-22, 2020. Following testing, the stage would help launch the Artemis I mission in November 2022.NASA/Stennis NASA conducts a full-duration RS-25 hot fire April 3, 2024, on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, achieving a major milestone for future Artemis flights of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. It marked the final hot fire of a 12-test series to certify production of new RS-25 engines by lead contractor L3Harris (formerly known as Aerojet Rocketdyne) to help power NASA’s SLS rocket on Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond, beginning with Artemis V.NASA/Stennis Even as NASA Stennis tested main engines to power shuttle missions, the site led in testing next-generation engines, including the Fastrac, XRS-2200 linear aerospike, and J-2X. It also developed its E Test Complex, with multiple test stands and cells, to support a range of component and engine test projects, including those of commercial aerospace companies.
      A landmark agreement between NASA Stennis and Aerojet Rocketdyne (now known as L3Harris) in 1998 marked the site’s first test partnership with such a company. “That was the starting point,” said Vander. “Today, we are a preferred partner for multiple companies and test projects, large and small.” 
      NASA Stennis also is testing RS-25 engines and related systems to help power NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on Artemis missions to the Moon. When the agency travels to Mars, it is expected the missions will launch with engines tested at the Mississippi site as well. 
      “The Gulf Coast of Mississippi helped achieve our space dreams of the past, and NASA Stennis continues supporting today’s dreams,” Bailey said. “It is a true testament to the expertise and dedication of our entire team and the incredible support of surrounding communities and the whole state.” 
      For information about NASA’s Stennis Space Center, visit: 
      Stennis Space Center – NASA 
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      Details
      Last Updated Nov 13, 2024 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
      Stennis Space Center Explore More
      5 min read NASA Stennis – An Ideal Place for Commercial Companies
      Article 13 mins ago 4 min read NASA Stennis Propulsion Testing Contributes to Artemis Missions
      Article 14 mins ago 5 min read NASA Stennis Test Team Supports Space Dreams with Proven Expertise
      Article 14 mins ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Stennis Topics
      Propulsion Test Engineering
      NASA Stennis Front Door
      Multi-User Test Complex
      Doing Business with NASA Stennis
      View the full article
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