WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- An American rocket was launched on Saturday from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore, carrying a cargo with the space agency's resupply mission for the International Space Station (ISS).
The Antares rocket built by Northrop Grumman lifted off at 4:01 a.m. EST (0900 GMT), carrying the Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the ISS.
It is expected to dock the space station on early Monday morning, according to Northrop Grumman's official twitter account, 25 minutes after the launch.
The spacecraft on the rocket carried about 7,400 pounds (3357 kgs) of crew supplies and hardware to the station, which aims to support science and research of deep space exploration beyond the near-Earth orbits.
According to NASA, the facilities aboard the Cygnus cargo include the first integrated 3D printer and recycler to turn waste plastic materials into high-quality 3D-printer filament to create tools and materials, a fully automated, multifunctional cell culture platform that aims to better understand muscle growth and repair in microgravity.
The launch of Antares was the second cargo supply to the ISS in recent two days. On Friday, a Russian Soyuz rocket launched a cargo mission to the space station.
