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The US private space rocket launched for test mission.
23:36
On April 21, 2013 at 21:00 UTC the "Antares” rocket was launched from launch pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Virginia coastline, USA. The first launch of the Antares rocket is a major step in a joint venture between Orbital Sciences Corp. and NASA to develop two commercial space transportation systems to resupply the International Space station, replacing much of the cargo-carrying capacity lost when the space shuttle retired in 2011. The rocket orbited a 3800 kg block of aluminum designed to mimic the mass characteristics of the Cygnus spacecraft, which will take the dummy payload's place on the next Antares launch. The rocket also orbited 4 satellites of CubeSat standart: Alexander, Graham, Bell and Dove 1.
