Orbital's Cygnus Spacecraft to Rendezvous with Space Station Week Late

The resupply spacecraft Cygnus is scheduled to rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) Sunday -- a week later than originally expected.

Developed by the private company Orbital Sciences under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, the unmanned space vehicle was delayed last Sunday mid-flight due to a technical glitch.

A problem arose when Cygnus "established direct data contact with the International Space Station (ISS) and found that some of the data received had values that it did not expect, causing Cygnus to reject the data," NASA reported at the time, adding that the discrepancy resulted in an interruption in the approach sequence.

The mission is a test run for Orbital, which has contracted $1.9 billion with NASA to conduct eight resupply missions. The company is the second to successfully launch a commercial cargo spacecraft with the goal of reaching the space station; Elon Musk's SpaceX completed its first mission in 2012.

Both are a part of the COTS program, designed to invest "financial and technical resources to stimulate efforts within the private sector to develop and demonstrate safe, reliable and cost effective space transportation capabilities."

Cygnus was launched aboard an Orbital Antares rocket Sept. 18 and is carrying roughly 1,300 pounds of cargo, including food and clothing.

According to NASA, the Sept. 25 arrival of a new crew aboard the orbiting lab further delayed the cargo vehicle's arrival.

Despite the hiccup, the space agency has expressed confidence in Orbital and Cygnus' ability to follow through with upcoming flights.

"Future Cygnus flights will ensure a robust national capability to deliver critical science research to orbit, significantly increasing NASA's ability to conduct new science investigations to the only laboratory in microgravity," a NASA press release states.