Orbital heading back to International Space Station on hired rocket

The Orbital Sciences vehicle is also packing over 2,500 pounds of crew supplies, and a load of other hardware as well, like replacement parts for the ISS’ space suits.

Although, this time the company orbital will be using rocket from another company United Launch Alliance to meet its contractual requirements with NASA.

A rocket launch to supply cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) by American aerospace manufacturer Orbital ATK has been pushed back due to adverse weather conditions. The meeting included senior NASA, the U.S. Air Force, Orbital ATK and United Launch Alliance managers. A fire and explosion in the old Russian rocket engines doomed the October 2014 flight, the company’s fourth resupply mission.

– A rocket is poised for an evening launch from Cape Canaveral, the first USA cargo launch to the space station after two high-profile failures.

This launch is also Orbital’s return-to-flight mission after a cargo ship was lost a year ago, when the company’s Antares rocket exploded shortly after liftoff at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

“The forecast tomorrow calls for a 30 percent chance of acceptable conditions at launch time”, NASA said on Thursday, informing of the rescheduling.

That means another attempt will be made Friday, at 5:33 p.m., from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, to send the Orbital ATK capsule full of supplies into space aboard an Atlas V rocket. That launch will be the second or third for Falcon 9 since the accident, after a launch of 11 Orbcomm satellites tentatively scheduled for mid-December and, possibly, the SES-9 satellite for SES.

The Orbital Sciences Launch of Cygnus cargo that was set to deliver supplies to the ISS has been delayed because of rain and thick clouds.

The planned launch comes after NASA suffered two catastrophic losses in less than a year of cargo vessels bound for the International Space Station.

“I’m guessing that Santa’s sleigh is somewhere inside the Cygnus, and they’re probably excited about their stockings coming up, too”, Frank Culbertson, president of Orbital ATK’s space systems group, said at a news conference Wednesday.