The private commercial cargo Cygnus spacecraft is set for its Wednesday launch.
The unmanned spacecraft, built by Orbital Sciences, is set to be launched for its demonstration mission, Fox News reports. The Cygnus sits atop the company's Antares rockets.
The Cygnus passed readiness tests and will hopefully make it to the International Space Station as Orbital Sciences is trying to show it's ready to begin several cargo runs for NASA. The firm has a $1.9 billion contract for the eight cargo runs.
The launch was originally set for Tuesday, but had to be delayed due to a faulty communications link between the spacecraft's computer and the ground equipment back on Friday.
According to USA Today, the spacecraft must be vigorously tested for maneuvering before it will be allowed to approach the ISS.
"Spaceflight is hard. It's really important not to crash a spacecraft into the space station," James Muncy, a commercial space policy consultant said.
The Orbital Sciences' Cygnus is a hope to compete with SpaceX, which has already made three trips to the ISS. "When two companies have done it, it will prove that we have an industry, not just one success," Muncy commented.
image: Wikimedia Commons
