Cygnus - Pressurized Cargo Modules

The ISS Commercial resupply services

 The Cygnus maneuvering spacecraft is being developed by Orbital Space Science to demonstrate cargo delivery under NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement. In addition to the COTS development and demonstration program, Orbital will utilize the Cygnus to perform the ISS resupply flights under the Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) contract. This NASA contract authorizes eight missions between 2011 and 2015 carrying approximately 20,000 Kg of cargo to the ISS as well as disposal of ISS waste

The Cygnus system is a low-risk design incorporating elements drawn from Orbital and its partners’ existing, flight-proven spacecraft technologies. Cygnus consists of a common service module and a pressurized cargo module.

Thales Alenia Space Italia under contract to Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) will design, develop, produce and deliver pressurized modules for cargo transport – including equipment, spare parts, scientific experiments and other items – to the International Space Station (ISS). The pressurized cargo module is based on the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM).

Using a staggered delivery schedule, a total of nine PCMs will be provided to Orbital for cargo loading and integration with the Orbital Service Module (SM). The series of nine pressurized modules will start with one unit being built for the Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) demonstration mission, followed by two “standard” configuration units, and be completed with six “enhanced” configuration units.