U.S. spaceship arrives at ISS with 3D printer, experiment equipment

A private U.S. spaceship arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday with fresh supplies to sustain future experiments, U.S. space agency NASA said.

The unmanned Cygnus spacecraft docked at the ISS at about 6:51 a.m. EDT (1051 GMT), with the help of Canadarm2 robotic arm operated by U.S. astronaut Tim Kopra, NASA said.

The spacecraft will be installed to the orbiting lab's Earth-facing port of the Unity module.

More than 3,500 kilograms of cargo were shipped to the ISS, including an upgraded 3D printer to replace an old one sent up in 2014.

The device, about twice the size of its predecessor, will help the space station produce new tools and experiments, NASA said.

Also on board was Saffire-I, a box designed to contain fire-related experiments.

"Such studies have not been possible in the past because the risks for performing such studies on spacecraft with astronauts aboard are too high," NASA said in a statement.

The U.S. space agency has planned three fire-related experiments, all of which will be conducted inside the Cygnus as it reenters Earth's atmosphere after completing its mission in two months.

The Cygnus is operated by Orbital ATK, which has conducted four previous missions to the ISS under a contract with NASA. Endi