Cygnus Space Freighter Launches to ISS – One of Two Solar Arrays Fails To Deploy

NASA commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket with Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard lifted off from Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore at 5:32 a.m. EST (2:32 a.m. PST) this morning. The first launch attempt on November 6 was postponed due to a fire alarm at the mission operations control center.

This is Northrop Grumman’s 18th contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station. This Cygnus, dubbed the S.S. Sally Ride, is scheduled to arrive at the space station on Wednesday, November 9.

Watch as scientific investigations on ovarian cell development, climate change’s effects on mudflow structures, a study on how plants adapt to grow space, the first satellites from Uganda and Zimbabwe, and a bioprinter all travel aboard the 18th Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. The Cygnus spacecraft, named S.S. Sally Ride in dedication to the first American woman in space, lifted off on Monday, November 7, 2022, at 5:32 a.m. EST (10:32 UTC) from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia. The first launch attempt on November 6 was postponed due to a fire alarm at the mission operations control center. Credit: NASA

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After the launch, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft successfully reached orbit. It also successfully deployed one of its two solar arrays. Northrop Grumman is gathering data on the second array deployment and is working closely with NASA.

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, with the company’s Cygnus spacecraft aboard, launched at 5:32 a.m. EST, Monday, November 7, 2022, from the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 18th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver more than 8,000 pounds of science and research, crew supplies, and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-18 Cygnus spacecraft is named after the first American woman in space, Sally Ride. Credit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Jamie Adkins

Northrop Grumman has reported to NASA that Cygnus has sufficient power to rendezvous with the ISS on Wednesday, November 9, to complete its primary mission, and NASA is assessing this and the configuration required for capture and berthing.

Cygnus is in orbit and on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) with more than 8,200 pounds of cargo.

Liftoff of Northrop Grumman’s CRS-18 Antares Rocket

Watch as scientific investigations on ovarian cell development, climate change’s effects on mudflow structures, a study on how plants adapt to grow space, the first satellites from Uganda and Zimbabwe, and a bioprinter all travel aboard the 18th Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. This launch was scrubbed due to a fire alarm at the mission operations control center. Credit: NASA