Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus Spacecraft Successfully Completes Rendezvous and Berthing with International Space Station

“S.S. Roger Chaffee” delivers approximately 7,600 pounds of cargo to the orbiting laboratory

Dulles, Va. – April 19, 2019 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC)  today announced that the “S.S. Roger Chaffee” Cygnus™ spacecraft successfully completed its rendezvous and berthing maneuvers with the International Space Station earlier this morning. The mission marks the company’s 11th successful berthing with the orbiting laboratory.

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft approaches the International Space Station for a robotic capture. Credit: NASA TV

Cygnus launched aboard a Northrop Grumman Antares™ rocket on April 17, 2019 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A on Wallops Island, Virginia. As the spacecraft approached the space station, Cygnus executed a series of thruster burns to raise its orbit. Once the spacecraft was in close range, crew members on board the space station grappled the spacecraft with the station’s robotic arm at 5:30 a.m. EDT. Cygnus was then guided to its berthing port on the nadir side of the station’s Unity module and officially installed on to the space station at 7:31 a.m. EDT.

“Our arrival at the space station as the ‘S.S. Roger Chaffee’ marks a proud moment for the NASA and Northrop Grumman teams,” said Frank DeMauro, vice president and general manager, space systems, Northrop Grumman. “As we deliver critical supplies and cargo to the astronauts aboard the space station, we are inspired by Lt. Commander Chaffee’s courage and commitment to the human exploration of space. The Cygnus spacecraft represents his planned journey to space in memory of those who took great risks to advance our nation’s space program.”  

Astronaut Roger Chaffee and his crewmates, Virgil “Gus” Grissom and Ed White II, all died in a tragic accident after a fire occurred in the space capsule during a simulation of the Apollo 1 launch in 1967. While his crewmates had flown to space on previous missions, Chaffee had not yet traveled to space. The naming of Cygnus in honor of his memory recognizes his legacy and valued contributions to human spaceflight.

Cygnus arrived at the space station with nearly 7,600 pounds (approximately 3,450 kilograms) of cargo, supplies and scientific experiments. The crew is now scheduled to open Cygnus’ hatch and make initial ingress into the cargo module to begin unloading the pressurized cargo. Cygnus will remain docked at the station for approximately three months before departing on secondary missions.

Once Cygnus departs the station, the spacecraft will begin a secondary mission to deploy CubeSats for two commercial customers. Cygnus will reposition to deploy three CubeSats using a NanoRacks deployer in the Company’s seventh commercial mission.  The Slingshot CubeSat Deployer system is also on board and marking its second mission on a Cygnus spacecraft. Slingshot is a flexible platform that can fly hosted payloads and CubeSats. The system is scheduled to be installed by astronauts while Cygnus is docked to the station in preparation for another round of CubeSat deployments during the next phase of its mission.

After the CubeSats are deployed, Cygnus will remain in orbit for an extended duration mission, an achievement marking a “first” for the spacecraft as it demonstrates capabilities beyond cargo supply and disposal. This newest innovation showcases Cygnus as a future testbed for various types of hosted payload missions. Upon completion of its secondary missions, Cygnus will perform a safe, destructive reentry into Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus Spacecraft Successfully Concludes Mission to the International Space Station

Company’s 10th cargo supply mission featured expanded commercial capabilities for Cygnus spacecraft

Dulles, Va. – Feb. 25, 2019 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) announced that the company successfully completed its 10th cargo supply mission to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-1) contract.

From Feb. 8, 2019 when Northrop Grumman’s “S.S. John Young” Cygnus spacecraft left the International Space Station after delivering approximately 7,400 pounds of cargo to astronauts on board. The spacecraft successfully completed its tenth cargo supply mission to the International Space Station on Feb. 25. (Credit: NASA)

During the mission, the “S.S. John Young” Cygnus met the needs of multiple customers throughout this flight to the International Space Station. The spacecraft removed more than 5,500 pounds (2,500 kilograms) of disposal cargo from the space station.

After departure, the extended mission included the deployment of three CubeSats via the NanoRacks External Cygnus Deployer at two different altitudes and two CubeSats from the Slingshot CubeSat Deployer System. Slingshot, a new commercial customer for Cygnus, is a flexible platform that can fly hosted payloads and CubeSats. The spacecraft also operated a commercial powered payload for another new customer, UbiquitiLink, Inc. These innovative uses of Cygnus beyond the primary mission demonstrate expanded commercial opportunities enabled by partnerships built through the space station.  

“It was a flawless mission for Cygnus that further demonstrated its ability to operate as an in-orbit science platform and launch pad for deployment of commercial CubeSats on extended missions,” said Frank DeMauro, vice president and general manager, space systems, Northrop Grumman. “Now, we turn our attention to the next launch this spring where Cygnus will fly on an extended duration mission to further demonstrate its abilities as in-orbit test platform. These capabilities will showcase Cygnus as an evolving space vehicle that can build on the positive impact of the space station to grow new commercial partnerships.”

The mission officially concluded on Feb. 25 at 4:05 a.m. EST when Cygnus performed a safe, destructive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand. The mission began Nov. 17, 2018, when Cygnus launched aboard a Northrop Grumman Antares™ rocket from NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Upon arrival at the orbiting laboratory, Cygnus delivered approximately 7,400 pounds (3,350 kilograms) of cargo, supplies and scientific experiments to the astronauts. It remained docked for 81 days at the orbiting laboratory before departing the space station on Feb. 8.

The next Cygnus launch, known as the NG-11 mission, is currently scheduled in mid-April. This will be the final mission under Northrop Grumman’s CRS-1 contract with NASA before starting the CRS-2 contract missions in the fall of 2019.