Ares V-Y

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This article or section documents a scheduled or expected spaceflight. Details may change as the launch date approaches or more information becomes available.

Ares V-Y
Mission insignia
Mission statistics
Mission name	Ares V-Y
Launch pad	Launch Pad 39A
Launch date	June, 2018
Landing	June, 2018
Mission duration	~1-3 days
Orbital altitude	~200-250 nautical miles (~320-400 km) in LEO
Orbital inclination	~28.5 degrees in LEO
Distance traveled	TBD
Related missions
Previous mission Next mission Maiden flight Orion 12 and Altair 1

Ares V-Y is the current designation for the maiden flight of the heavy-lift Ares V Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicle. The rocket launch will be conducted to test the first stage, which uses five RS-68 rocket engines currently in use on the Delta IV EELV rocket with two five-segment Solid Rocket Boosters identical to that planned for the Ares I. The Ares V will have an active Earth Departure Stage, which has a single J-2X rocket engine, but will not carry the Altair spacecraft – a Constellation derivative of the Apollo Lander Mass Simulator (used on Apollos 4, 6, and 8) will be used instead. Ares V-Y will also see the first use of Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A, as it is currently be slated for use in the final Space Shuttle missions while Launch Pad 39B will be reconfigured for use as the Ares I launch facility.

Ares V-Y is currently scheduled to take place in June, 2018, a little over 50 years since the unmanned Apollos 4 and 6 flights. It will most likely fly a so-called "Shuttle Standard Insertion" flight profile from launch into Low Earth Orbit, allowing NASA to test the SRBs, the five RS-68 engines, and the single, restartable, J-2X engine, the last engine being very important in that it would have to both insert the EDS and Altair into LEO, and then after an Orion spacecraft docks with Altair, propel the two vehicles out to the Moon. Once the initial launch sequence is done, NASA may then propel the EDS and its mass simulator into a permanent solar orbit or fire its J-2X engine and have the assembly crash into the Pacific Ocean in a manner similar to the de-orbiting of the Space Station Mir in 2001.

[edit] See also

• List of Constellation missions

v • d • e Project Constellation Sub-orbital Ares I-X · Ares I-Y Earth orbital Orion 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · Ares V-Y · Orion 12 · 14 · 16 · 18 · 20 Lunar Altair 1 / Orion 13 · Altair 2 / Orion 15 · Altair 3 / Orion 17 · Altair 4 / Orion 19 · Altair 5 / Orion 21 Solar System Orion Asteroid Mission · Orion Mars Mission Components Orion · Ares (I · IV · V) · Earth Departure Stage · Altair · J-2X · RS-68 Launch sites Kennedy Space Center LC-39A/B Abort Orion abort modes · In-flight aborts and rescue options · Orion Abort Test Booster · Launch Abort System (LAS) · Max Launch Abort System (MLAS) Other Vision for Space Exploration · Exploration Systems Architecture Study · DIRECT List of missions