Orbital Sciences to Stop Using Suspect Russian Rocket Engine After Explosion(space.com)

3 pointsby ykl12 năm trước1 comments

Orbital Sciences to Stop Using Suspect Russian Rocket Engine After Explosion

http://www.space.com/27669-orbital-sciences-rocket-explosion-soviet-engines.html

1 comments

ykl12 năm trước

The obvious question in my mind (and the reason I submitted this) is whether or not SpaceX is one of the companies Orbital is in talks with to provide launch capability in the meantime. Does anyone know if the Falcon 9 is theoretically capable of boosting a Cygnus vehicle to the ISS's orbit?

Edit: just looked at the numbers. The Cygnus is significantly smaller in volume and mass than the Dragon, so I assume now that the answer is "yes, a Falcon 9 could launch a Cygnus"