Orbital Sciences Corp delivered its first cargo ship to the International Space Station on Sunday.
A robotic arm plucked a Cygnus freighter capsule from orbit at 6.08am EST 425km above the Indian Ocean.
The Cygnus cargo ship (top left) being captured by a robotic arm and brought to the International Space Station on Sunday. Photo: NASA TV / AFP
"A big sigh of relief for Orbital," said NASA TV commentator astronaut Catherine "Cady" Coleman from Mission Control in Houston.
The capsule, which is about the size of a small bus, was latched to a docking port about two hours later.
The capsule carried 1461kg of food, equipment, science experiments and supplies for the station, including computers and replacement parts for NASA spacesuits.
It is scheduled to remain in dock for about 45 days, and will then be filled with trash and items no longer needed aboard the station, before being released into orbit so it can drive into the Earth's atmosphere for incineration.
Orbital Sciences and Space Exploration Technologies have NASA contracts worth a combined $US3.5 billion for a total of 20 cargo flights to the space station, a $US100 billion research complex owned by the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada.
Orbital Sciences launched the first of its eight missions on Thursday. SpaceX is preparing for its third cargo run on 22 February.
NASA hired them after the retirement of the space shuttles in 2011.
