The capsule is expected to arrive at the orbiting laboratory on Sunday.

 

The mighty roar of a commercial rocket launching a brand-new private cargo ship on a stunning debut test flight from Virginia's Eastern shore today (Sept. 18) has NASA overjoyed and the spaceship's builder beaming with pride.

An Antares rocket built by Orbital Sciences Corp. successfully launched into orbit from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility here at 10:58 a.m. EDT (1458 GMT), carrying the company's first robotic Cygnus spacecraft on a critical demonstration flight to the International Space Station.