Liftoff: 1st U.S. shipment in months flying to space station

A US shipment of much-needed groceries and other astronaut supplies is rocketing toward the International Space Station for the first time in months.

The Atlas V launch vehicle lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station. This marks Orbital ATK’s first successful mission since its Antares rocket exploded over a year ago after launch from Wallops Island in Virginia.

At the time of lift-off, the football field-size space station was 252 miles over north Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda.

The six station astronauts – two of them deep into a one-year mission – have gone without American shipments since April. Orbital’s previous run had ended in an explosion immediately after take-off in October 2014. At just over 8 tons, Cygnus is the heaviest payload to launch atop an Atlas V rocket.

On Sunday, private spaceflight company Orbital ATK returned its Cygnus cargo ship to flight with a superb afternoon launch after a year’s gap.

“So giving those guys food and T-shirts is near and dear to my heart”, said Dan Tani, Orbital ATK’s senior director for mission and cargo operations.

To NASA’s relief, the weather cooperated after three days of high wind and cloudy skies that kept the Atlas V rocket firmly on the ground.

New hardware that will support dozens of NASA investigations and other science experiments from around the world is among the more than 7,000 pounds of cargo on the way to the International Space Station aboard Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft.

“So we’re looking forward to having those supplies being replenished” by Orbital ATK’s latest cargo resupply mission, he said. The company designs, builds and delivers space, defense and aviation systems for customers around the world, both as a prime contractor and merchant supplier.

Cygnus will be grappled at approximately 6:10 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 9, by NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, using the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to take hold of the spacecraft. Europe flew its fifth and final ATV cargo capsule in August.

Supplies at the station have been running low following several failed supplied runs. Its main products include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space components and services; and advanced aerospace structures. Normally used for hefty satellite launches, it is the mighty successor to the Atlas used to put John Glenn into orbit in 1962. Boeing plans to use the Atlas V to launch its commercial crew spacecraft for NASA, the Starliner, as early as 2017.

SpaceX is preparing its own spacecraft combination – Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon – to carry astronauts to the station in the near future. Cygnus will deliver vital equipment, supplies and scientific experiments to the ISS as part of its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA.

“Commercial space is going to happen”, Shireman said.