Gallery: Antares rocket explodes

On the cusp of the company’s next Cygnus resupply flight to the International Space Station set for launch Thursday night from Virginia, Northrop Grumman officials said they are eager for NASA to approve more Cygnus cargo missions beyond those already on contract through 2022.

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo freighter departed the International Space Station Wednesday after delivering more than 7,800 pounds of equipment and experiments, heading for an extended mission with payloads to study fire behavior in microgravity and test a next-generation radio system.

This is the launch timeline to be followed by the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral with the commercial Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo freighter headed to the International Space Station. Launch is scheduled for Tuesday at 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT).