Gallery: Antares rocket explodes

The debut launch of an upgraded version of Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket has slipped to Friday after ground teams resolved a minor vehicle issue and made emergency preparations for Hurricane Matthew, which bypassed the Antares launch site on Virginia’s Eastern Shore this weekend.

Bound for an orbital rendezvous with the International Space Station on Wednesday, a commercial Cygnus freighter was successfully launched by an Atlas 5 rocket Sunday to restart American cargo deliveries to the research outpost.

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.