A new rocket rises: Orbital's Antares prepared for its first test launch

Orbital Sciences Corp. raised the first fully integrated Antares rocket on its Virginia launch pad on Saturday, setting the stage for its maiden flight to orbit later this month. A successful test launch would mark a giant leap toward using the Antares and Orbital's Cygnus cargo capsule to resupply the International Space Station. If the current schedule holds, Virginia-based Orbital would become the second commercial venture to send its spacecraft to the space station later this year, following in the footsteps of California-based SpaceX. More

(Source: NBCNews.com - Apr 8)