 Artists' impression of an Extended Cygnus; the spacecraft type to be used in the mission. | |
| Mission type | ISS logistics |
|---|---|
| Operator | Northrop Grumman |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | S.S. |
| Spacecraft type | Enhanced Cygnus |
| Manufacturer |
|
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | Late July 2024 (planned)[1] |
| Rocket | Falcon 9, B10xx.x |
| Launch site | KSC LC-39A or CCSFS SLC-40 |
| Contractor | SpaceX |
| End of mission | |
| Disposal | Deorbited |
| Decay date | 2025 (planned) |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Inclination | 51.66° |
| Berthing at the International Space Station | |
| Berthing port | Unity nadir |
Cygnus NG-21 is the twenty-first planned flight of the Cygnus robotic resupply spacecraft and its eighteenth flight to the International Space Station (ISS). It is planned to launch in late July 2024.[1][2][3][4] It is contracted to Northrop Grumman under the Commercial Resupply Services II (CRS-2) contract with NASA. The capsule is scheduled to be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems) and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, Orbital ATK designed, acquired, built, and assembled the Cygnus, an advanced spacecraft using a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) provided by industrial partner Thales Alenia Space and a Service Module based on the Orbital GEOStar satellite bus.[5]
NG-21 is the second launch of a Cygnus spacecraft after the exhaustion of the supply of Antares rockets, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, losing both the Russian rocket engine supplier and the Ukrainian booster stage supplier. A Northrop Grumman replacement for Antares will later come about for later missions. The next Cygnus missions will also use Falcon 9, and subsequent mission will use the next-generation Antares 300 series that does not depend on Ukrainian or Russian parts.[6]
History
Cygnus NG-21 is the tenth Cygnus mission under the Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract.
Production and integration of Cygnus spacecraft are performed in Dulles, Virginia. The Cygnus service module is mated with the pressurized cargo module at the launch site, and mission operations are conducted from control centers in Dulles, Virginia and Houston, Texas.[5]
Spacecraft
This will be the sixteenth flight of the Enhanced-sized Cygnus PCM.[3][7]
Manifest
The Cygnus spacecraft will be loaded with cargo and supplies before its launch.[8]
See also
References
- ^ a b Clark, Stephen (25 October 2023). "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
- ^ Gebhardt, Chris (1 June 2018). "Orbital ATK looks ahead to CRS-2 Cygnus flights, Antares on the commercial market". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ a b Clark, Stephen (1 October 2020). "Northrop Grumman "optimistic" to receive more NASA cargo mission orders". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "Northrop Grumman shifting to Space Coast for future space station missions". 3 August 2023.
- ^ a b "Cygnus Spacecraft". Northrop Grumman. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "Northrop Grumman and Firefly to partner on upgraded Antares". SpaceNews. 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
- ^ Leone, Dan (17 August 2015). "NASA Orders Two More ISS Cargo Missions From Orbital ATK". SpaceNews. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply". ISS Program Office. NASA. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
External links
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This page was last edited on 10 March 2024, at 22:04