An unmanned capsule was launched by the Orbital Sciences Corporation which will travel to the International Space Station. Once it reaches its destination, it may become the second commercial vehicle to deliver cargo to the orbiting laboratory.
The 40-meter long Antares rocket was launched on Wednesday morning off the Virginia coast. Though unmanned, it carried about 680 kilograms of daily living supplies including food contained in the company’s Cygnus cargo vehicle. The expedition of the capsule is set to demonstrate its ability to communicate with the station and maneuver in space.
Cygnus is expected to arrive on Sunday and will stay there for a month. After a month, it is set to break away from the station and burn into ashes while falling through the atmosphere.
Its launch is the finale of a $500 million or more bet on commercial cargo service. The Antares rocket has received a total of $1 billion in investments-- both public and private.
Based in Dulles, Va., the goal of Orbital -- which has been faced with problems related to budget overruns, unmet deadlines, and technical problems that lasted for years – is to commence regular deliveries of cargo to the space station as early as December, under a contract with NASA amounting to $1.9 billion.
NASA chief Charles Bolden, Jr. said to the Wall Street Journal, "Orbital's extraordinary efforts are helping us fulfill the promise of American innovation to maintain our nation's leadership in space.”
Orbital Sciences created the Cygnus capsule as a dispensable rocket with a dual stage launcher that relies on liquid and solid fuel and other possible uses aside from serving the space station.
The send off of Cygnus brought earsplitting applauses and cheers in the control room which monitors the capsule’s trajectory and systems.
