The Orbital Sciences Corp. rocket Antares blasted off from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Sunday at 2 p.m. Pacific time.
Launched as a test flight to reach orbit, the Antares rocket is part of an agenda set by NASA to foster crew and cargo delivery methods through private space companies.
"Today's successful test marks another significant milestone in NASA's plan to rely on American companies to launch supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station, bringing this important work back to the United States where it belongs," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.
The Antares rocket was scheduled to launch on Friday but was forced into postponement due to a technical glitch. The launch could not take place on Saturday due to high winds.
The 132-foot rocket is part of a $1.9 billion Orbital Sciences Corp. contract with NASA to conduct eight supply missions to the International Space Station. The point of Sunday's launch was to prove that the Cygnus cargo ship could be successfully brought into orbit for docking.
After the launch, Alan Lindenmoyer of the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston called Sunday a "great day for Orbital, a great day for NASA and a great day for commercial space flight in America."
"When we do this again, we know how to make it happen," Frank Culbertson of Orbital Sciences Corp. added.
Unexpectedly, the launch caused a brush fire near the launch pad, which firefighters proceeded to extinguish.
The Antares rocket launch represents billions of dollars of funding and years of development. It is part of a goal by NASA and Orbital Sciences Corp. to make the launch site, Wallops Island in Virginia, the top spaceport in the country, and to establish Virginia as a key player in commercial space launches.
As for future flights, Orbital Sciences Corp. is planning a demonstration flight this summer, at which time the Antares rocket will carry the Cygnus capsule into orbit in an effort to dock with the International Space Station.
Orbital Sciences Corp. falls in line with other commercial space companies that include SpaceX and Virgin Galactic. Unlike SpaceX, Orbital's capsule cannot return to Earth without burning up in the atmosphere. However, Orbital does claim that it can develop and launch rockets for much less than other companies.
