Cygnus launches toward the International Space Station

Orbital ATK's Antares rocket carrying Cygnus launched from

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Wallops Island, Virginia en route to resupply the International Space Station. Antares carried Cygnus off the pad at 7:46pm EDT igniting its new engines for the first time since the failure back in 2014. Cygnus was separated from the Castor 30XL solid fuel second stage at approximately 7:55pm EDT, 9 minutes after liftoff. Both of the spacecraft's solar arrays were successfully deployed around 9:28PM EDT and is now awaiting to approach the International Space Station. Cygnus has to wait for the new arrival of the 3 new crew members arriving at the station Friday in a Soyuz spacecraft. The station crew members will capture Cygnus and is expected to dock Sunday, around 7:05am EDT.