Private rocket passes test for space station voyage

By The Associated Press

ATLANTIC, Va. A company contracted by NASA to deliver supplies to the International Space Station successfully launched a rocket Sunday in a test of its ability to send a cargo ship aloft.

About 10 minutes after the launch from Wallops Island on Virginias Eastern Shore, Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles declared the test a success after observing a practice payload reach orbit and safely separate from the rocket.

The Sunday launch comes after two previous attempts were scrubbed. A data cord that was connected to the rockets second stage came loose just minutes before the rocket was set to lift off Wednesday, and company officials said they were easily able to fix the problem. A second attempt Saturday was scrubbed because of wind.

It certainly was an amazing achievement for Orbital today, a great day for NASA and another historical day for commercial spaceflight in America. The flight today was just beautiful and it looks like the preliminary data says that all the objectives we established for the flight were 100 percent met, said Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of NASAs commercial crew and cargo program.

The company from the Washington suburb of Dulles was one of two, along with California-based competitor SpaceX, chosen to supply the space station after NASA ended its three-decade-old shuttle program in 2011. The space agency turned to private companies for the job, saying it would focus on getting manned flights to asteroids and to Mars.

SpaceX was awarded a $1.6 billion contract by NASA in 2006 to make a dozen missions to restock the space station. Orbital got into the mix in 2008 when it was awarded a $1.9 billion contract for eight deliveries.

Weve been playing catch up, but were about caught up, Frank Culbertson, executive vice president and general manager of Orbitals Advanced Programs Group, said last week. By the end of next year we should have an additional four or five cargo missions under our belt, so were going to be moving fast.

SpaceX has connected with the space station three times.

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Private rocket passes test for space station voyage