Gallery: Antares rocket explodes

Carrying a Cygnus supply ship bound for the International Space Station, an Orbital ATK Antares rocket lifted off Monday from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia.

Technicians working at launch pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia completed the final loading of cargo into Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus supply ship late Tuesday, and the Antares rocket was raised vertical again in preparation for Wednesday’s countdown.

The sixth commercial cargo delivery by Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft, and the first using an Antares rocket since a launch failure in 2014, will carry more than 5,000 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station.