Orbital ATK OA-7 Cargo Launch, Apr 2017, CCAFS

UPDATE, April 17:  The post-launch press conference tomorrow now will be at 2:30 instead of 2:00 pm ET.

UPDATE, April 12:  The launch is now scheduled for April 18 at 11:11 am ET.  NASA TV coverage begins at 10:00 am ET.   The launch window is open for 30 minutes.  NASA will “broadcast the world’s first live 360-degree stream of a rocket launch” beginning 10 minutes prior to the launch on NASA’s YouTube channel.  A post-launch briefing is currently scheduled for 2:00 pm ET.  It will be broadcast on NASA TV.

UPDATE, April 3: ULA announced that the new launch date is April 18.  The time was not included in the announcement. 

UPDATE, March 22:  ULA announce yet another slip due a different hydraulic issue, this one with a “booster hydraulic system.”  The launch is postponed indefinitely.

UPDATE, March 20:  ULA announced another slip, to no earlier than (NET) March 27, as it works an hydraulic issue with ground support equipment needed for the launch.

UPDATE, March 15:   ULA announced another slip, to March 24, while it replaces and retests a first stage hydraulic component.  Launch on March 24 would be at approximately 9:00 pm ET.  ULA has requested the option of launching on March 23 if the Eastern Range is available, hence we are labeling March 24 as a “tentative” launch date.

UPDATE, March 10.  ULA said today that the launch, on an Atlas V rocket, has been delayed to no earlier than (NET) March 21 due to a “booster hydraulic issue” that requires replacement of a component.

Original Entry:  Orbital ATK will launch its next cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on March 19, 2017.  The 30-minute launch window opens at 10:56 pm ET.

Orbital ATK will be using a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), FL this time instead of its own Antares rocket that launches from Wallops Island, VA.  The Cygnus spacecraft will be loaded with supplies for the ISS crew and a number of cubesats that will be deployed from the Nanoracks CubeSat Deployment system on the ISS.

The mission is designated OA-7 for Orbital ATK-7, the seventh operational commercial cargo mission for this company (one of which failed).