Chocolate coming on next space station delivery, new cargo ship launching from Va. on Wed.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A Virginia company makes its debut this week as a space station delivery service. And the lone American aboard the orbiting lab is counting on a fresh stash of chocolate.

In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg said she can’t wait for this weekend’s arrival of a new cargo ship named Cygnus. She says it should be similar to other shipments at the International Space Station, even though it will be a first for Orbital Sciences Corp.

Orbital Sciences is scheduled to launch an unmanned Antares rocket containing Cygnus on Wednesday from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. It’s where NASA launched a moon spacecraft 1½ weeks ago.

NASA is paying Orbital Sciences and the California-based SpaceX company to keep the space station well stocked.