spacetoday.net: Antares launches Cygnus cargo spacecraft

Posted: Mon, Jul 14, 2014, 6:43 AM ET (1043 GMT)
Antares liftoff on Orb-2 mission (J. Foust)

An Antares rocket successfully launched a Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station on Sunday. The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket lifted off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia at 12:52 pm EDT (1652 GMT) Sunday and placed the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, also built by Orbital, into orbit about ten minutes later. The Cygnus is carrying nearly 1,500 kilograms of cargo for the ISS, including supplies for the crew, ISS hardware and experiments, and 32 small satellites to be later deployed from the station. Launch of this mission, the second of eight under Orbital's current contract with NASA, had been originally planned for May, but was postponed by delays in another cargo mission and, later, an investigation into a failure of an engine like those that power the Antares's first stage. Cygnus is scheduled to arrive at the ISS early Wednesday.