Cygnus resupply spacecraft successfully docks with ISS

The Cygnus commercial resupply craft is installed by the Canadarm2 to the Harmony node.

NASA TV

After a six-day delay caused by a data-formatting issue, the Cygnus spacecraft has successfully docked with the International Space Station. Cygnus carried about 1,300 pounds of cargo up to the ISS, which will be unloaded beginning Monday morning.

Orbital Sciences, the US company that built the unmanned Cygnus, was awarded a $1.9 billion contract to supply the ISS. It became the second Commercial Orbital Transportation Services provider, joining SpaceX, which carried out its first resupply mission last October. The September 18 launch was Orbital Sciences' first resupply flight.

After the first docking attempt was delayed, the tech staff at Orbital Sciences quickly wrote and deployed a software patch that fixed the date-formatting issues. In addition to the patch upload, Cygnus also had to successfully complete additional NASA-mandated tests and simulations before being cleared to dock with ISS. Docking was further delayed by the launch of a Soyuz rocket carrying three new crew members for ISS last Wednesday. (That capsule successfully docked late Wednesday evening.)