According to a news release from NASA, Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft has successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS). Orbital says that Cygnus was grappled and berthed with the ISS by the Expedition 37 crew early Sunday morning.

Cygnus was carried into orbit by Orbital’s Antares rocket on September 18 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. Prior to docking, Cygnus finished a thorough series of in-orbit tests and maneuvers proving its ability to work in close proximity to the space station.

According to Orbital Sciences Corporation, the final approach to the ISS started at approximately 3 a.m. Sunday morning, ending with the station’s robotic arm grappling the cargo logistics spacecraft at 7 a.m. when it was approximately 10 meters away. After being directed to its berthing port on the nadir side of the space station’s Harmony module, Cygnus’ installation was finished by the space stationcrew at approximately 8:45 a.m.

“This entire COTS demonstration mission has been executed in textbook fashion by the joint NASA and Orbital teams, from Antares’ launch 10 days ago to Cygnus’ berthing at the station this morning,” said David Thompson, Orbital’s President and CEO, in a statement. “A tremendous amount of hard work has gone into this five-year effort from our launch vehicle and spacecraft teams, and we are all exceptionally proud of their accomplishments. We look forward to moving ahead with regularly scheduled ISS cargo delivery missions for NASA as early as the end of the year.”

Businessweek reports that Cygnus’ rendezvous with the ISS was delayed twice. Although originally scheduled to reach the space station last Sunday, the docking was delayed due to a software glitch that needed repairing. The spacecraft’s rendezvous with the ISS was delayed a second time when it had to wait for the scheduled arrival of the Soyuz space crew.

According to Orbital Science Corporation, the space station crew will begin unpacking the 700 kg of cargo and supplies on Monday. Cygnus brought food, clothing and experimental equipment to the ISS. In early October, the space station crew will start filling Cygnus with up to 800 kg of disposal cargo. Cygnus will stay at the ISS for 30 days.

“Orbital joins SpaceX in fulfilling the promise of American innovation to maintain America’s leadership in space,” said NASA administrator Charles Bolden. “As commercial partners demonstrate their new systems for reaching the Station, we at NASA continue to focus on the technologies to reach an asteroid and Mars.”

What do you think of Orbital’s achievement? What will be the most significant commercial space achievement of this decade? Share your thoughts and predictions in the comments section.