Orbital ATK Antares blasted off from its Wallops Island, Virginia, launching pad Monday evening, marking a return for the Dulles-based space company that was bouncing back from a 2014 explosion of a rocket at the same location.
The updated Antares rocket launched its Cygnus spacecraft into orbit at 7:45 p.m. with a resupply payload meant for the International Space Station on behalf of NASA, The Washington Post reported. The flight was delayed for months before liftoff, which could be seen from much of the Mid-Atlantic.
"It's great to see launches to the International Space Station happening again from the Virginia coast – and it shows what can be accomplish with a close partnership of federal and state agencies, along with the U.S. industry, all working together," NASA administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement from the space agency.
Orbital ATK's last flight attempt in 2014 ended in disaster, when the Antares rocket exploded seconds after takeoff from Pad-0A, disintegrating into a huge fireball, Space.com reported. Monday's mission is Orbital ATK's sixth official cargo resupply mission for NASA, and the fourth using an Antares rocket.
"The cargo aboard the Cygnus will support dozens of new and existing investigations as the space station crews of Expeditions 49 and 50 contribute to about 250 science and research studies," NASA said in its statement. "The new experiments include studies on fire in space, the effect of lighting on sleep and daily rhythms, collection of health-related data, and a new way to measure neutrons."
Space.com reported that under Orbital ATK's $1.9 billion contract with NASA, the spaceflight company is obligated to deliver some 66,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station over 10 missions. The cargo that took off Monday included science experiments, supplies and spacewalking hardware, food and clothing.
The safe launch also gave NASA another option to resupply the space station since SpaceX, Orbital ATK's commercial space company rival, experienced its own explosion last month and is grounded while investigators determined what went wrong, the Post reported.
SpaceX's explosion was its second connected with its resupply mission contract with NASA. Investigators think problems with the Falcon 9 rockets used by SpaceX caused problems.
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