Antares 120

Taurus II

Mission Profile

The Antares 120 (Taurus II) was a two-stage American launch vehicle in the Antares family, the initial operational variant developed under the CRS programme for delivering Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station. Standing 40.5 m tall with a 3.9 m diameter and a liftoff mass of 282 tonnes, it generated 3,265 kN of liftoff thrust and could deliver 5,000 kg to low Earth orbit. First flying in January 2014, the Antares 120 featured a Castor 30A upper stage and successfully demonstrated the vehicle's cargo delivery capability before being superseded by the Antares 130 variant.