It was the ninth flight under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA and conducted under an extension, leading to the "E" in the mission name.

Regrettably, the third operational mission, Orb CRS-3, resulted was not successful due to spectacular Antares failure during launch.

The Antares system will be upgraded with newly built RD-181 first-stage engines to provide greater payload performance and increased reliability.

Two of which flew on the new Antares 230 and one on the aforementioned second Atlas V. These three missions enabled Orbital ATK to cover their initial CRS contracted payload obligation.

Thompson served in multiple management positions at Orbital, overseeing development of the Antares rocket and other vehicles in the company's launcher family.