Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket passes Hot Fire test

Satellite-manufacturing company Orbital Sciences has a good reason to celebrate as the company’s Antares medium-class rocket passed the extended-duration “hot fire” test of its first stage propulsion system. The company is also planning to use the spacecraft to send cargo supply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a $1.9 billion agreement with NASA.

The key engine test, which was done at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s (MARS) Pad 0A on February 22nd, lasted for 29 seconds. The pad is specifically designed and built for liquid-fuel space launch rockets. The test is essential to guarantee that the stage one test article of the Antares rocket and the launch complex’s fueling systems functions properly in a fully operational environment. The “hot fire” test also proved that the engine ignition and shutdown commands function as intended, and that the dual AJ26 first stage engines as well as their control systems operate to specifications in the twin-engine configuration.

Orbital Sciences reports that the company will now exert its efforts into the first flight of the Antares spacecraft following its successful test. The inaugural flight is expected to transpire in approximately six weeks.

Under the contract with NASA, Orbital will launch eight cargo resupply missions to the ISS from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia using the Antares vehicle. The company is also examining the possibility of a west coast launch site to extend the market of A.

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Export-Import Bank approves financing guarantee for Hispasat deal

Spanish communication satellites provider Hispasat has been granted an $87.1 million guarantee of a loan by the Export-Import Bank of the United States, extended by Crédit Agricole and other European lenders. This new development is said to aid Hispasat finance the assembly and purchase of a satellite that will be built by Orbital Sciences Corporation.

The Department of Commerce and Labor reported that this guarantee will help support almost 600 U.S jobs, and also marks the third business transaction between Export-Import Bank and Hispasat. A previous transaction between the two major companies was acknowledged as “Deal of the Year” during the 2012 Ex-Im Bank Annual Conference.

This is not the first time Export-Import Bank financed a satellite company. It also supported other commercial satellites manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation. This move is to improve the participation of the U.S in the international market, thus supporting jobs in Orbital’s workforce and its U.S suppliers.

A year ago, Export-Import Bank broke the company’s record by granting $1.4 billion to finance the exporting of U.S-made telecommunications satellites. For the first quarter of this year, it has already authorized $516.9 million.

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Orbital Science: HYLAS 2 Ka-band satellite successfully makes orbit

Orbital Sciences Corporation announced this August 14, 2012 that the HYLAS 2 broadband communications satellite it built for Avanti Communications Group PLC has successfully reached orbit.

The launch mission for the Orbital Sciences-built, Avanti-operated started on Thursday, August 2, 2012. An Ariane 5 rocket lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana a few minutes before 5:00 PM local time. The HYLAS 2 satellite successfully separated from the rocket’s final stage slightly over half an hour after liftoff.

“The HYLAS 2 mission is going very well so far following another successful launch by Arianespace," Mr. Christopher Richmond, Orbital’s Senior Vice President of Communications Satellites, said in an announcement. "Over the next several weeks," he added, "we will work with the engineering team from Avanti to conduct in-orbit testing to verify the spacecraft’s systems before it enters commercial service.”

According to Orbital Science, the HYLAS 2 satellite project proceed just as planned from design phase to its early in-orbit activation and verification processes. "We have worked closely with Avanti every step of the way," SVP Richmond elaborated, "following our model of superior customer involvement throughout the program to ensure our customer’s needs are fully met. We are pleased to be a part of Avanti’s team, bringing exciting new applications and services to these fast-growing markets.”

The Orbital Science-designed and -built HYLAS 2 platform is a high-throughput Ka-Band satellite. It will allow satellite communications company Avanti to provide broadband dat and video services to customers in Eastern and Southern Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and across the Caucasus.