Atlantic storm 'Nicole' delays launch of Orbital ATK resupply mission to space station

New Delhi: NASA and its partner Orbital ATK have postponed the launch of the next commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) to no earlier than Sunday, October16, even as the agency braces for Tropical Storm Nicole at its tracking station in Bermuda.

As per NASA, the Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft is now expected to launch on Sunday at 8:03 p.m. EDT from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, with a five-minute window.

NASA is yet to determine the date of the arrival of the Cygnus spacecraft to the space station.

You can watch the launch live on NASA Television as well as the agency’s website beginning at 7 p.m. EDT Sunday.

As the spacecraft’s trajectory takes it from Wallops and past Bermuda on its flight into orbit, the Bermuda tracking station provides downrange tracking, telemetry and flight termination support.

Tropical Storm Nicole is expected to reach Bermuda as a hurricane Thursday, October 13.

“The tracking station at Bermuda is required to conduct the Antares launch from Wallops,” said Steven Kremer, chief of the Wallops Range and Mission Management Office. “The ability to support a launch will depend on the impact the storm has on not only our systems, but also the overall Bermuda infrastructure.”

After the storm system has passed Bermuda, the Wallops team will conduct a damage assessment, perform mission readiness testing, and bring the site back up to operational status, says NASA.