NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The Antares rocket in vertical position, following roll-out maneuvers on April 6, 2013, at Wallops.
Credit: NASA/Brea Reeves
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WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. -- Orbital Sciences Corp. completed roll-out of the first fully-integrated Antares rocket to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Saturday, April 6. Orbital has confirmed an April 17 target launch date for the rocket test flight with a planned liftoff of 5 p.m. EDT. Orbital is testing the Antares rocket under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. NASA initiatives like COTS are helping develop a robust U.S. commercial space transportation industry with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the space station and low-Earth orbit. For more information on the launch, Wallops, and NASA initiatives like COTS, see: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/missions/antares.html.