A private cargo spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday one week behind schedule, NASA said.
Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus unmanned spacecraft Cygnus overcame a software problem and an additional delay caused by the arrival of a Soyuz capsule on Wednesday.
The docking went forward after Orbital Sciences uploaded a software fix for a navigation data mismatch that occurred during its approach September 22.
Cygnus operated safely behind the space station by about 2,400 kilometres away while mission managers and ground controllers tested the software patch and planned Sunday’s second approach attempt, NASA said.
Cygnus arrived at the ISS at 1100 GMT and astronauts on board the ISS caught it using a robot arm, NASA said.
“Houston, station, Cygnus capture complete,” Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano radioed NASA’s mission control in Houston, Texas, as he latched onto the spacecraft with the station’s robotic arm, the website space.com reported. By 12:44 GMT the Cygnus was successfully attached to the space station.
On Monday astronauts will begin unloading its cargo — some 680 kilograms of supplies, including clothing and food. The spacecraft will stay at the ISS for 30 days before returning to earth with around 795 kilograms of disposal cargo. It is only the second privately owned spacecraft to resupply the space outpost.
The company’s Antares rocket, carrying the Cygnus spacecraft launched into its intended orbit from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on September 18.
The mission follows previous private cargo resupply missions to the ISS by the SpaceX Dragon capsule as NASA seeks to jump start the private spaceflight industry after the retirement of its space shuttle in 2011.
If Orbital Science’s test mission is successful, it will begin regularly scheduled cargo delivery missions to the ISS under a $1.9 billion contract with NASA.
This will see Orbital Sciences deliver approximately 20,000 kilograms of cargo to the ISS over eight missions through 2016, including food, clothing, crew supplies, spare parts and equipment, and scientific experiments.
Spacex’s Dragon is scheduled to make at least 12 more flights by 2016 under a contract valued at about $1.6 billion.