List of Antares launches

Antares (/ænˈtɑːriːz/), known during early development as Taurus II, is an expendable launch system developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation (later part of Northrop Grumman) and the Pivdenne 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 (18,000 lb) into low Earth orbit, Antares is the largest rocket operated by Northrop Grumman. Antares launches from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport and made its inaugural flight on April 21, 2013.^[12] Antares 100 was retired in 2014 and series 200 was retired in 2023 due to component unavailability. As of January 2024^[update] Antares 300 is under development.

NASA awarded Orbital a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Space Act Agreement (SAA) in 2008 to demonstrate delivery of cargo to the International Space Station. Orbital (and later Northrop Grumman) used Antares to launch its Cygnus spacecraft for these missions. As of August 2023^[update] it has only been used for Cygnus launches to the ISS, despite it being intended for commercial launches. Originally designated the Taurus II, Orbital Sciences renamed the vehicle Antares, after the star of the same name,^[13] on December 12, 2011.

Out of 18 total launches, Antares has suffered one failure. During the fifth launch on October 28, 2014, the rocket failed catastrophically, and the vehicle and payload were destroyed.^[14] The rocket's first-stage engines were identified as the cause for the failure. A different engine was chosen for subsequent launches, and the rocket had a successful return to flight on October 17, 2016.

The Antares has flown two major design iterations, the 100 series and 200 series. Both series have used a Castor 30XL as an upper stage but have differed on the first stage.^[15] The 100 series used two Kerolox powered AJ26 engines in the first stage and launched successfully four times. The 100 series was retired following a launch failure in 2014.^[16] The 200 series which first flew in 2016 also featured a Kerolox first stage but instead used two RD-181 engines along with other minor upgrades. The 200 series future became uncertain following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Due to the first stage being produced in Ukraine and the engines in Russia, future production of the rocket was unable to be continued.^[15] As a result Northrop Grumman entered into an agreement with Firefly Aerospace to build the first stage of the Antares 300 series. Northrop also contracted with SpaceX for 3 Falcon 9 launches.^[17]

Note: Cygnus CRS OA-4, the first Enhanced Cygnus mission, and Cygnus OA-6 were propelled by Atlas V 401 launch vehicles while the new Antares 230 was in its final stages of development. Cygnus CRS OA-7 was also switched to an Atlas V 401 and launched on April 18, 2017

Note: Cygnus NG-20 was, Cygnus NG-21 and Cygnus NG-22 will be propelled by Falcon 9 Block 5 launch vehicles while the new Antares 330 is in development.