Launch Photos: Orbital ATK's Antares Rocket & Cygnus OA-9 Soar to ISS!

Ready to Fly

An Orbital ATK Antares rocket launched an Antares rocket and the uncrewed Cygnus OA-9 cargo ship to the International Space Station on May 21, 2018. Read our full launch wrap story here! See the mission in photos here! This Photo: Orbital ATK's Antares rocket is raised up on its Pad 0A launchpad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Virginia.

Liftoff!

An Orbital ATK Antares rocket carrying the OA-9 Cygnus spacecraft launches from Pad-0A,at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia in this dazzling photo from the predawn liftoff on May 21, 2018. The Cygnus was carying nearly 7,400 lbs. of NASA cargo for the International Space Station.

Ascent

It took the two-stage Antares rocket just over 8 minutes to deliver the Cygnus spacecraft into orbit.

Antares Launch

Orbital ATK's Antares rocket successfully launched a Cygnus cargo spacecraft toward the International Space Station in the early morning May 21, 2018, from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Antares Star

Orbital ATK's Antares spacecraft passed through a layer of clouds before lighting up the sky over NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia while launching the Cygnus spacecraft toward the International Space Station May 21, 2018.

At the Launchpad

The Orbital ATK Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus OA-9 cargo ship stands atop Pad 0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on May 20, 2018.

Rolling Out

An Orbital ATK Antares rocket will launch a Cygnus cargo ship to the International Space Station for NASA on Monday, May 21, 2018, after a 24-hour delay. Here, the rocket is rolled out to its launchpad at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, on May 17.

Private Antares Rocket & Cygnus Spacecraft Explained (Infographic)

How Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft service the space station. See how Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft and Antares rockets works in this infographic.

Visible to Millions

This Orbital ATK map shows the visibility range along the U.S. East Coast for the May 21, 2018 launch of an Antares rocket carrying NASA cargo. The number of seconds listed refer to the time after liftoff, which is set for 4:39 a.m. EDT on May 21.

The S.S. J.R. Thompson

Orbital ATK's next space station-bound Cygnus spacecraft, named the "S.S. J.R. Thompson" is seen being loaded into a container to be transported for its pre-launch fueling at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The Man Behind the Name

The late J.R. Thompson, namesake for Orbital ATK's OA-9 Cygnus spacecraft, seen in 1988 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where he was director at the time.