On the surface, that's nothing dramatic or novel. The rocket isn't going anywhere we haven't been before. But the journey is one more lap in the ongoing space race underway among several private space companies—Orbital ATK, Elon Musk's SpaceX, and Sierra Nevada—for a $3.5 billion NASA contract to keep the ISS astronauts well-fed, warm and occupied.

NASA is preparing to pick one, or possibly two, companies for the seven-year contract. But in the past two years, this space race has been more NASCAR than Apollo. In October 2014, Orbital's Antares rocket—also carrying ISS supplies—blew up shortly after liftoff. In April 2015, the Russians lost their Progress 59 cargo craft on the way to the station. In June 2015, Space X's Falcon 9 rocket—boosting an uncrewed Dragon cargo ship—exploded after launch from Canaveral.