Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft is captured using the Canadarm2 robotic arm on the International Space Station on Oct. 23. Photo: NASA

[Via Satellite 11-28-2016] Orbital ATK has completed its sixth cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station for NASA the company announced on Nov. 28. Known as OA-5, the mission marked the company’s return to flight operations from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia, and the second time Cygnus has been used as a platform for conducting research in space.

On Nov. 27, at approximately 6:40 p.m. EST, Cygnus performed a safe, destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand, successfully concluding the OA-5 mission.

Named the “S.S. Alan Poindexter” in honor of the two-time Space Shuttle veteran, Cygnus launched on Oct. 17, and six days later, berthed with the International Space Station (ISS), delivering approximately 5,300 pounds (2,400 kilograms) of vital supplies and science experiments to the astronauts on board. It remained docked for 29 days and departed the space station on Nov. 21.

“We returned to flight operations at our home base in eastern Virginia [and] successfully launched aboard our upgraded Antares rocket … I congratulate the entire NASA and Orbital ATK teams for a job well done,” Frank Culbertson, president of Orbital ATK’s Space Systems Group said in a statement.