page_title: Antares (rocket)
section_title: Configurations and numbering
hierarchical_section_title: Antares (rocket) / Configurations and numbering
caption_attribution_description: English: A Castor 30 rocket motor was ground-tested Dec. 9, 2009, at the Arnold Engineering Development Center at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn., in a specialized vacuum chamber that simulates the altitude at which the upper-stage motor will operate. This was the longest rocket-motor test ever in AEDC's J-6 Large Rocket Motor Test Facility, which became operational in 1994.
context_page_description: Antares, known during early development as Taurus II, is an expendable launch system developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation and the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau to launch the Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA's COTS and CRS programs. Able to launch payloads heavier than 8,000 kg into low-Earth orbit, Antares is currently the largest rocket operated by Northrop Grumman. Antares launches from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport and made its inaugural flight on April 21, 2013.
  NASA awarded Orbital a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Space Act Agreement in 2008 to demonstrate delivery of cargo to the International Space Station. For these COTS missions Orbital intends to use Antares to launch its Cygnus spacecraft. In addition, Antares will compete for small-to-medium missions. Originally designated the Taurus II, Orbital Sciences renamed the vehicle Antares, after the star of the same name, on December 12, 2011.
  The first four Antares launch attempts were successful. During the fifth launch on October 28, 2014, the rocket failed catastrophically, and the vehicle and payload were destroyed.
context_section_description: The first two test flights used a Castor 30A second stage. All subsequent flights will use either a Castor 30B or Castor 30XL. The rocket's configuration is indicated by a three-digit number and a possible "+" suffix, the first number representing the first stage, the second the type of second stage, and the third the type of third stage. A + sign added as suffix (fourth position) signifies performance upgrades to the Antares 230 variant.
caption: A test firing of the Castor 30 second stage.
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