MIAMI: An unmanned cargo ship operated by Orbital ATK, a United States (US) company, left the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday – packed with 1.5 tonnes of garbage that will burn up on re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere. “We have confirmed departure,” a NASA spokesman said on the US space agency’s live broadcast as the barrel-shaped spaceship was released from the orbiting outpost. The spacecraft and its contents will burn up on Sunday and there will be no live coverage of the fiery re-entry, he added. Cygnus launched from Wallops Island, Virginia and arrived at the ISS on October 23 – carrying 5,100 pounds (2,300 kilogrammes) of food, supplies and science experiments for the team of global astronauts living in orbit. Orbital ATK and SpaceX have each been awarded NASA’s contracts – worth over $1 billion to supply the space station.