Cygnus (spacecraft)

Cygnus

The Enhanced variant of Cygnus is seen approaching the ISS
Manufacturer	Orbital ATK
Country of origin	United States
Operator	NASA
Applications	ISS resupply
Specifications
Spacecraft type	Unmanned cargo vehicle
Design life	1 week to 2 years
Dry mass	1,500 kg (3,300 lb) (Std) 1,800 kg (4,000 lb) (Enh)
Payload capacity	2,000 kg (4,400 lb) (Std) 3,200 kg (7,100 lb) (Enh on Antares 230) 3,500 kg (7,700 lb) (Enh on Atlas V 401)
Dimensions	5.1 m × 3.07 m (16.7 ft × 10.1 ft) (Std) 6.3 m × 3.07 m (20.7 ft × 10.1 ft) (Enh)
Volume	18.9 m3 (670 cu ft) (Std) 27.0 m3 (950 cu ft) (Enh)
Power	3.5 kW
Production
Status	In service
Built	5
On order	11
Launched	5
Operational	1
Retired	3
Lost	1
First launch	18 September 2013

The Cygnus spacecraft is an American automated cargo spacecraft developed by Orbital ATK as part of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) developmental program. It is launched by Orbital's Antares rocket or ULA's Atlas V and is designed to transport supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) following the retirement of the American Space Shuttle. Since August 2000 ISS resupply missions have been regularly flown by Russian Progress (spacecraft), as well as by the European Automated Transfer Vehicle, and the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle. With the Cygnus spacecraft and the SpaceX Dragon, NASA seeks to increase its partnerships with domestic commercial aviation and aeronautics industry.

Cygnus is the Latinized Greek word for swan and a northern constellation.

With Rocketplane Kistler unable to meet funding obligations for its K-1 launch vehicle under the terms of the COTS agreement, NASA decided on October 18, 2007 to terminate its contract with Rocketplane Kistler and re-award its contract after a competition. On February 19, 2008 NASA announced that it had chosen Orbital Sciences as the new winner. On December 23, 2008, NASA awarded Orbital Sciences a $1.9 billion contract under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. Under this contract, Orbital Sciences will deliver up to 20 tons of cargo to the ISS through 2016 in eight Cygnus spacecraft flights.