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Orbital ATKAntares 230Launch Area 0 A, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

Cygnus CRS OA-9 (S.S. J.R. Thompson)

Launched

May 21, 2018

Launch SuccessfulWeather 75% go
Cygnus CRS OA-9 (S.S. J.R. Thompson) Patch

Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Summary

Cygnus CRS OA-9 (S.S. J.R. Thompson) launched on an Orbital ATK Antares 230 from Launch Area 0 A, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA on May 21, 2018. It was Orbital ATK's 6th launch, 1st this year and humanity's 5,752nd orbital launch attempt. It was the 3rd Antares 230 flight and the 1st this year. The payload was bound for low Earth orbit (LEO). SS J.R. Thompson, one of 17 catalogued objects, reached a 230 × 324 km orbit inclined 51.6°. The spacecraft was Cygnus CRS OA-9E. 17 objects from this launch are catalogued, 16 of them payloads.

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Vehicle
Antares 230 · Orbital ATKCommercial Resupply Services, International Space Station
Booster
No booster details on record.
Mission
Resupply · Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Milestone
3rd Antares 230 flight · 1st this yearOrbital ATK's 6th launch1st this yearhumanity's 5,752nd orbital launch attempt46th orbital launch attempt this year

Spacecraft

Cygnus CRS OA-9E

Cygnus CRS OA-9E, also known as Orbital ATK OA-9E and Northrop Grumman OA-9E, was the tenth planned flight of the Orbital ATK uncrewed resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its ninth flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Orbital and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, then Orbital Sciences designed and built Antares, a medium-class launch vehicle; Cygnus, an advanced maneuvering spacecraft, and a Pressurized Cargo Module which is provided by Orbital's industrial partner Thales Alenia Space.

  • Destination: International Space Station
  • Mission length: 70 days
  • Docked May 24, 2018 at Unity nadir

The Cygnus spacecraft burned up as planned upon entering Earth's atmosphere.

Webcast

Replay
Watch on YouTube

Flight preview

Orbit: as tracked

51.6°Inclination
230 × 324 kmPerigee × apogeefrom mean elements
89.9 minPeriodfrom mean elements
152.4°Ascending node
3070 d agoElement epoch2018-05-21 10:12 UTC · stale

SS J.R. Thompson · NORAD 43474 · 2018-046 · Space-Track · tracking 1 of 17 objects

Show the numbers for orbit elements
Object
TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
Object ID
2018-046A
Epoch
2018-05-21 10:12:40 UTC
Mean motion
16.0156683 rev/day
Eccentricity
0.0070532
Inclination
51.6172°
Ascending node
152.3929°
Arg. of perigee
140.6046°
Mean anomaly
327.6604°
Element set
999
Rev at epoch
0
B*
0

Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: LEO. Ascent drawn from padside's representative profile.

Catalogued objects

17 catalogued: 16 payloads, 1 rocket stage

  • SS J.R. Thompson · NORAD 43474
  • CubeRRT · NORAD 43546 · re-entered November 26, 2020
  • TEMPEST-D · NORAD 43547 · re-entered June 21, 2021
  • RainCube · NORAD 43548 · re-entered December 23, 2020
  • HaloSat · NORAD 43549 · re-entered January 4, 2021
  • Radix · NORAD 43550 · re-entered April 7, 2020
  • Endurosat One · NORAD 43551 · re-entered October 15, 2020
  • Equisat · NORAD 43552 · re-entered December 26, 2020
  • RadSat-g · NORAD 43553 · re-entered April 5, 2021
  • MemSat · NORAD 43554 · re-entered September 27, 2020
  • Aerocube 12A · NORAD 43556 · re-entered May 26, 2023
  • Aerocube 12B · NORAD 43557 · re-entered August 14, 2023
Show 4 more payloads
  • Lemur-2-Vu · NORAD 43558 · re-entered February 6, 2023
  • Lemur-2-Alexander · NORAD 43559 · re-entered January 13, 2023
  • Lemur-2-Yuasa · NORAD 43560 · re-entered January 18, 2023
  • Lemur-2-TomHenderson · NORAD 43561 · re-entered February 13, 2023

Antares A-8 Stage 2 · re-entered June 5, 2018

Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org

About this launch

This is the tenth planned flight of the Orbital ATK's unmanned resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its ninth flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.

Pad

Map of Launch Area 0 A

Launch Area 0 A, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

9th launch from Launch Area 0 A, 1st this year · 62nd from Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

19 launches from this pad · 87 from Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

189 days after the previous launch from this pad

All launches from Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USAOpen in maps

Questions

When did Cygnus CRS OA-9 (S.S. J.R. Thompson) launch?

Cygnus CRS OA-9 (S.S. J.R. Thompson) launched on May 21, 2018. The time is known to the hour, not the minute.

Where can I watch Cygnus CRS OA-9 (S.S. J.R. Thompson)?

Coverage: Antares CRS-9 Launch 'Quicklook' Video; U.S. Commercial Cargo Craft Heads to the Space Station. Watch the replay

What rocket launched Cygnus CRS OA-9 (S.S. J.R. Thompson)?

Antares 230, flown by Orbital ATK. Antares 230 spec sheet

Where did Cygnus CRS OA-9 (S.S. J.R. Thompson) launch from?

Launch Area 0 A, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA.

What orbit did Cygnus CRS OA-9 (S.S. J.R. Thompson) reach?

SS J.R. Thompson, one of 17 catalogued objects, reached a 230 × 324 km orbit inclined 51.6°.

How many satellites did Cygnus CRS OA-9 (S.S. J.R. Thompson) launch?

16 payloads from this launch are catalogued (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).

Which program is Cygnus CRS OA-9 (S.S. J.R. Thompson) part of?

Commercial Resupply Services and International Space Station. About Commercial Resupply Services