Artist rendering of Cygnus spacecraft,
courtesy of Orbital Sciences...
Thales Alenia Space has shipped its first Pressurized Cargo Module, designed to transport cargo to the International Space Station, to NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The PCM, developed on behalf of Cygnus prime contractor Orbital Sciences Corporation, was carried by an Antonov An-24 cargo plane. At Wallops, Orbital will integrate the PCM with the Service Module (including the avionics, propulsion subsystem and power supply) to produce the complete Cygnus spacecraft. This vehicle will fly a demonstration mission in early 2012, using Orbital’s Taurus II launcher, under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement.
Following the demonstration flight, within the scope of the CRS (Commercial Resupply Service) contract signed by Orbital and NASA, Thales Alenia Space will provide Orbital with eight more pressurized modules for cargo missions to the International Space Station, including crew supplies, spare parts and scientific experiments. The first PCM will be followed by three more units in “standard” configuration, capable of transporting up to 2,000 kg of cargo each, along with five “enhanced” configuration units, boosting payload capacity to 2,700 kg.
The Cygnus™ spacecraft comprises a Service Module (SM) built by Orbital, and a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) developed by Thales Alenia Space. Building on 30 years of experience in space infrastructures and transportation systems, the Cygnus PCM developed by Thales Alenia Space calls on the company’s skills and expertise developed through previous programs for the International Space Station, such as the MPLM (Multipurpose Logistics Module), built by the company on behalf of the Italian space agency for NASA, and the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) Cargo Carrier, built by Thales Alenia Space for the European Space Agency (ESA).