Cygnus XL supplies ISS
Space.com reported that SpaceX launched Northrop Grumman’s enlarged Cygnus XL cargo ship carrying more than five tons of supplies to the International Space Station, with the Falcon 9 first stage making its seventh flight and landing about eight minutes after liftoff at Cape Canaveral (space.com). The article notes that the same booster previously launched NASA’s Crew-11 mission and Axiom Space’s Ax-4 mission, linking recent commercial and crewed flight histories (space.com).
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched Northrop Grumman’s enlarged Cygnus XL cargo ship toward the International Space Station on April 11, carrying about 11,000 pounds of supplies. (nasa.gov) The rocket lifted off at 7:41 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. SpaceX said the Falcon 9 first-stage booster was making its seventh flight. (nasa.gov) (spacex.com) SpaceX’s mission timeline put the booster landing at Landing Zone 40 about 7 minutes 54 seconds after liftoff, while the upper stage deployed Cygnus XL about 14 minutes 39 seconds into flight. The spacecraft is flying under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 24 contract, or Northrop Grumman CRS-24. (spacex.com) (nasa.gov) Cygnus is an uncrewed delivery ship, the orbital equivalent of a cargo truck, built to haul food, experiments, hardware, and spare parts to astronauts in low Earth orbit. The XL version is a stretched model that carries more pressurized cargo than earlier Cygnus spacecraft. (nasa.gov) (space.com) NASA said this flight is carrying dozens of research payloads, including a new module for the Cold Atom Lab, hardware aimed at producing more therapeutic stem cells, model organisms for gut microbiome studies, and a receiver intended to improve space weather models for systems such as Global Positioning System satellites and radar. (nasa.gov) The station is scheduled to capture the spacecraft with its Canadarm2 robotic arm at 12:50 p.m. Eastern on Monday, April 13, with NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams operating the arm. After that, controllers plan to install Cygnus on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port for unloading. (nasa.gov) Northrop Grumman named this spacecraft the S.S. Steven R. Nagel after the former NASA astronaut who flew four space shuttle missions and logged 723 hours in space. NASA said the vehicle is expected to stay attached to the station until October, then depart loaded with trash and burn up during reentry. (nasa.gov) The booster’s flight history ties this cargo run to recent crewed missions: SpaceX said the same first stage previously launched Axiom Space’s Ax-4 mission, NASA’s Crew-11 mission, Northrop Grumman’s NG-23 cargo flight, and three Starlink missions. That makes this resupply launch part of the same fast-reuse system now serving both private astronaut flights and NASA station logistics. (spacex.com) Northrop Grumman has been using Falcon 9 for Cygnus missions while it works toward bringing its Antares 330 rocket online later in 2026. For now, the April 11 launch sent another cargo load on its way to the station, with capture set for April 13. (spacenews.com) (nasa.gov)
