Press site views of second Antares launch

The second Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket lifted off Wednesday at 10:58 a.m. EDT (1458 GMT) from launch pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Virginia coast.

The 131-foot-tall rocket, powered by two Russian engines built for the Soviet moon program in the 1970s, made an Earth-rattling ascent into a clear, topaz sky, disappearing in the glare of the morning sun as it accelerated southeast from U.S. East Coast.

The rocket deployed the Orbital Sciences Cygnus spacecraft to begin a four-day chase of the International Space Station on a demo run for NASA's commercial cargo resupply program.

These photos were taken from the press site about 2 miles from the launch pad.

See our Mission Status Center for the latest news on the mission.

Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now