ISS resupply mission launches from Virginia's Eastern Shore

April 17 (UPI) -- Northrop Grumman launched its 11th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station on Wednesday.

The aerospace and defense company's Antares rocket blasted-off from Virginia's Eastern Shore at 4:46 p.m.

Just a few minutes after blastoff, the main engine shutoff and the Cygnus cargo spacecraft separated from the rocket's second stage.

We have liftoff of our #Antares rocket carrying the NG-11 S.S. Roger Chaffee #Cygnus spacecraft to the @Space_Station! :rocket:

- Northrop Grumman (@northropgrumman) April 17, 2019

On Tuesday, mission engineers completed loading 7,600 pounds of food, supplies, equipment and science experiments into the Cygnus cargo spacecraft at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.

"About two-and-a-half hours after launch, an automated command will initiate deployment of the spacecraft's solar arrays," according to NASA. "Full deployment will take approximately 30 minutes."

The cargo ship will be received at the International Space Station early Friday. NASA astronaut Anne McClain will secure the incoming craft with the space station's robotic arm.

"After capture, ground controllers will command the station's arm to rotate and install Cygnus on the bottom of the station's Unity module," NASA reported.

NASA TV will also offer live coverage of the capture and docking process on Friday.