Gallery: Antares rocket explodes

Expanding a single instant in time to 30 minutes, the upcoming Atlas 5 rockets with Cygnus cargo-delivery freighters bound for the International Space Station will have an unprecedented opportunity available to launch each day.

Orbital ATK shipped the final major piece of hardware for the next Cygnus space station resupply mission to a launch base on Virginia’s Eastern Shore last week as technicians began loading cargo destined for delivery to the orbiting research lab.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 194 feet tall and and weighing 720,000 pounds, generates 860,000 pounds of thrust from its main engine to launch the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship on the OA-7 mission to the International Space Station.