Orbital ATK takes off with vital NASA gear to the International Space Station

After its year long hiatus, Orbital ATK with the Atlas V rocket successfully launched its unmanned Cygnus cargo spacecraft carrying important supplies and NASA gear to the International Space Station.

The flight was originally set to take off days ago but three days of consecutive bad weather moved the date to Sunday, December 6 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, according to a report from Space.

The vehicle will deliver seven-ton supply of life sciences facilities, science experiments, ready made food for the astronauts in orbit, Microsoft HoloLens sets, microsatellite launcher, and other tools. It's arrival to the space station is expected on Thursday, the 10^th of December.

According to The Washington Post, the one year hiatus is due to Orbital losing the Antares rocket vehicle November last year on a catastrophic explosion that shook NASA and the entire commercial space industry, which has caused a major setback to all commercial space flights.

The successful launch now was applauded by the present spectators as a sign that the company also successfully redeemed itself from last year's failure. NASA spokesman Mike Currie said it's a great day as they have "officially resumed cargo resupply to the International Space Station."

According to Yahoo News, the mission is part of Orbital's $1.9 billion contract with NASA in delivering necessities and equipment to astronauts living in space. The event marks Orbital's fourth scheduled mission to the orbiting outpost.

Orbital ATK and SpaceX are the only US companies that can send spacecraft carrying precious cargo for NASA to the ISS. The success of its launch now can be attributed to the company's use of United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket as it upgrades its Antares rocket.

The failure last year was caused by a problem with the Antares' reconditioned Ukrainian engine. Orbital said last year they suspected a rocket engine failure and purposefully detonated the rocket to prevent damage to people in the area. In the end, it cost the company $200 million in lost equipment and supplies.