Author: Steven Siceloff

A pair of twin, circular solar arrays on the Cygnus spacecraft will unfurl in about 30 minutes to provide electrical power to the spacecraft. Seen here in ground processing, the arrays are upgrades to the ones flown previously on Cygnus spacecraft. They are lighter than their predecessors but provide the same amount of electricity for the Cygnus’ systems.

Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft is exactly where it needs to be in space to catch up to the International Space Station, resulting in applause from NASA, the United Launch Alliance team behind the Atlas V rocket and Orbital ATK’s Cygnus team in the Mission Director’s Center.

With the Cygnus and Centaur achieving orbit, the single engine of the rocket stage has shut down. Two minutes, 49 seconds to separation of the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft.

One minute until the Centaur’s engine shuts off, the Cygnus spacecraft is moving at more than 16,286 mph.

Now more than 1,700 miles from Cape Canaveral, the Cygnus space craft and Centaur upper stage are moving at 13,200 mph. The Centaur will shut off in about four minutes.

 

Telemetry shows the Cygnus spacecraft, powered by the Centaur upper stage, is 224 miles above Earth moving at 12,000 mph and getting faster quickly.

 

The Centaur upper stage continues to operate as it should more than 10 minutes after liftoff.

 

As the second stage burn continues, an on-board camera shows the Centaur’s RL-10 engine doing its job to continue lifting the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft higher and faster on its precise course to catch the International Space Station.