Watch Live: Commercial Antares Rocket Launches to Space Station

By Nancy Atkinson - September 18, 2013 at 2:14 PM UTC | Space Exploration
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UPDATE: Orbital Sciences successfully launched its Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard its Antares rocket at 10:58 a.m. EDT Wednesday from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. This is the first time a spacecraft launched from Virginia is heading toward the International Space Station. Above is the launch video, and we'll have a full re-cap article coming soon! The live NASA TV feed is below. (end of update)

Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft is set to become the second private spacecraft to launch to the International Space Station. Today's historic launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia has a launch window from 10:50 AM to 11:30 AM EDT, with launch likely to occur at 0:58 a.m. EDT (1458 GMT) from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. You can watch it live here on NASA TV's Ustream feed.

As of this writing, the Wallops range is currently red due to low cloud conditions and something called "distance focus over pressure," according to the

Orbital Sciences Twitter feed.

However, they expect it to clear later in count, and the rocket is being fueled.

Also, if you live along the US east coast near the Virginia area, you may be able to see the launch for yourself! It won't be as visible as the recent nighttime launch of the LADEE mission, but should still be visible to a wide area, if the skies are clear.

Read our complete guide to how to view the launch here.

Live streaming video by Ustream

Here's a timelapse of the Antares rocket heading out the the launchpad:

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com