SpaceX successfully sent Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) today in a launch that left Cape Canaveral Space Station at 12:07 p.m. EST.
The Cygnus spacecraft was launched off of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. In all, four tons of cargo were onboard, sending plenty of cargo to the ISS.
Liftoff of Falcon 9 and Cygnus! pic.twitter.com/VgZq7N6jtm
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 30, 2024
Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth with nothing going off of plan. It touched down at Cape Canaveral just over eight minutes after launch. It was the 10th launch of this particular booster, according to SpaceX.
This mission marked SpaceX’s tenth flight and landing of the year.
This first stage booster previously launched Crew-5, GPS III Space Vehicle 06, Inmarsat I6-F2, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37, as well as four Starlink missions.
Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth and landed at Landing Zone 1, completing our 10th launch and landing of the year pic.twitter.com/MoqpgEt2hg
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 30, 2024
The Cygnus deployed from Falcon 9’s upper stage in low Earth orbit just shy of 15 minutes after launch. It then made its way to the ISS independently thereafter.
It is scheduled to arrive at the orbiting lab at 4:20 a.m. EST on Thursday. NASA will stream it as it arrives at the ISS.
Cygnus has over 8,200 pounds of supplies and scientific hardware aboard, according to Space.com. There is a cartilage-growing experiment on-board, which could help address joint damage and disease on Earth. Additionally, a European Space Agency project is also set to arrive. That will help test 3D printing metals in microgravity.
Cygnus is a robotic cargo craft, and is one of three that currently heads to the ISS. SpaceX’s Dragon capsule and Russia’s Progress vehicle are the other two.
Dragon is reusable, while Progress and Cygnus are expendable.
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