Cygnus supplies space station 2017.
Posted on 09/17/2025 10:45:11 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Northrop Grumman's upgraded Cygnus XL vehicle experienced an engine issue on Tuesday, delaying its arrival to the International Space Station until further notice. This is the first flight of the larger version of the company's solar-powered spacecraft, which is carrying 11,000 pounds of science investigations, food, supplies, and equipment to the space station's crew.
The cargo ship launched on Sunday at 6:11 p.m. ET on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida...
On its way to the ISS, Cygnus XL's main engine "stopped earlier than planned during two burns designed to raise the orbit of the spacecraft for rendezvous with the space station," the space agency wrote. All other systems on the spacecraft are performing nominally, but the engine failure interrupted the intricate process of rendezvousing with the ISS.
Unlike SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship that autonomously docks with the space station, Cygnus requires the giant, Canadian-built robotic arm attached to the ISS, named Canadarm2, to grab it. Once it's captured, the robotic arm will install the spacecraft on the Unity module's Earth-facing port, where it is set to remain attached to the ISS until March 2026...
The anticipated delivery would be Northrop Grumman's 23rd cargo shipment to the ISS as part of its multi-billion dollar commercial resupply contract with NASA.
Last year, another of the company's cargo ships ran into trouble while attempting to rendezvous with the ISS... The issue was resolved, and the Cygnus spacecraft ended up at the space station during its original arrival time.
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...
Cygnus resupply ship [Brave search]The Cygnus resupply ship is an expendable American uncrewed cargo spacecraft developed by Northrop Grumman for resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS).
It was originally built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, which was acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2018, and is manufactured in collaboration with Thales Alenia Space, which builds the pressurized cargo module based on the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module design...
The most recent mission, designated NG-23, marked the first flight of the upgraded Cygnus XL variant, which features a 5.2-foot (1.6-meter) longer cargo module, providing 33% more capacity than previous versions...
Due to geopolitical issues affecting the supply chain for its original Antares rocket, Northrop Grumman has contracted with SpaceX to launch its Cygnus missions using the Falcon 9 rocket for the foreseeable future.
This arrangement allows the Cygnus XL to leverage the Falcon 9's higher payload capacity, enabling it to deliver more cargo than SpaceX's own Cargo Dragon spacecraft, which is designed for return to Earth.
AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.
🐱🚀
The Cygnus spacecraft consists of two basic components: the Service Module (SM) and the Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM). [...] The SM is capable of producing up to 4 kW of electrical power via two solar arrays.Just so no one mistakenly gets the idea that this spacecraft's propulsion is solar-powered!
Regards,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePhDPLAbujg&list=RDePhDPLAbujg&start_radio=1
Shoot. I thought you said Cygnus X-1
(RUSH song, live)
Hey, it’s not rocket science.
Cygnus supplies space station 2017.
Translating?
I “think” SpaceX got it, then the Cygens upper stage engine tumbled it and shut down down before the Canadarm could catch it. Might very close and so dangerous, , very far away, or in a completely safe orbit.
Northrup Grumman’s Atlas rocket got the Cygnus almost to orbit, then there was a software glitch which caused a problem. But after a huge effort by NASA and Northrup Grumman, they got a reboot of the software and the record near 5 tons of very expensive cargo [ micro-gravity experiments etc ] where safely delivered to ISS. Cargo Dragon only has carried 2.5 tons to ISS
Yeah you are correct and I apologize for the error.
No, the Atlas rocket didn’t get the Cygnus almost to orbit. WTH is wrong with you?
:^)
Just wait, there’s probably a plan to land near the Temple of Syrinx.
🤦♂️
The second boost occurred early this month. Ordinarily this periodic boost had been carried out by one of the Soviet-era Russian cargo vessels, but Pooty-poot’s massive war of attempted ethnic annihilation has eaten up the resources.
The boosts have worked, and have led to SpaceX’ selection for the deorbit burn, when the ISS gets ditched into the Pacific Ocean in five years or so.
SpaceX Dragon fires thrusters to boost ISS orbit for the 1st time
By Josh Dinner
published November 8, 2024
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/international-space-station/spacex-dragon-fires-thrusters-to-boost-iss-orbit-for-the-1st-time
NASA, SpaceX Complete Dragon Space Station Reboost
Mark A. Garcia
September 3, 2025
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/09/03/nasa-spacex-complete-dragon-space-station-reboost/
That’s the old version. This XL version has more capacity, clearly needs some tweaking by its manufacturer, Northrup-Grumman.
As noted pretty clearly above, the planned transition to a different launch vehicle (from the Antares, which relies on Russian and Ukrainian supply chains, to the SpaceX Falcon 9) made the redesign with the larger payload possible.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cygnus_(spacecraft)
Nothing wrong - I already admitted my mistake on badinfo.
The Antares failed in 2014 and the Atlas was used twice, I think it said 2015 and 2016. Then all Antares, 26 missions overall, 2 failures, over a 12 year period. Now that they’re relying on SpaceX they’ll get their payloads up more reliably, with launch availability far in excess of the Cygnus build rate. It’s not reusable, which means all the trash aboard the ISS can be stowed in there, and the whole works burns up in the atmosphere, plllt, problem solved.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cygnus_(spacecraft)#Missions
Don’t worry, all, PIF and I have been cast in a movie franchise reboot, “Grumpy Old Men III: The Return”.
If the priests allow it
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