Washington, Jan 10
A commercial spacecraft operated by US space company Orbital Sciences Corp. blasted off Thursday, flying its first cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA TV showed.
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 US 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 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.
by:IANS