Private U.s. Cargo Ship Launched to Space Station

A commercial spacecraft operated by U.S. space company Orbital Sciences Corp. blasted off on Thursday, flying its first cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, APA reports quoting NASA TV.

The unmanned Cygnus spacecraft was launched atop the Antares rocket, also built by Orbital Sciences, at 1:07 p.m. EDT (1707 GMT) from the U.S. space agency's Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia.

"Liftoff!" Orbital Sciences said in a tweet. "Love feeling the roar of a launch."

The mission began the company's first contracted cargo delivery flight to the station through a 1.9-billion-U.S.-dollar Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Orbital Sciences will fly at least eight cargo missions to the Space Station through 2016.

"Today's launch demonstrates how our strategic investments in the American commercial spaceflight industry are helping ... keep the United States the world leader in space exploration," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.

"American astronauts have been living and working continuously in space for the past 13 years on board the International Space Station, and we're once again sending them supplies launched from U.S. soil," Bolden said.

The launch has been delayed for three times, first due to problems with a cooling system on the Space Station last December, then because of...