NS-23 Mission

This is the 23rd spacecraft built to deliver goods to the International Space Station. In March, NASA and Northrop Grumman moved up the company’s Commercial Resupply Services-23 mission to September following damage to the Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Module during shipping for the company’s Commercial Resupply Services-22 flight.

Each resupply mission to the station delivers scientific investigations in the areas of biology and biotechnology, Earth and space science, physical sciences, and technology development and demonstrations. Cargo resupply from U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver scientific research to the space station, increasing NASA’s ability to conduct new investigations aboard humanity’s laboratory in space.

In addition to food, supplies, and equipment for the crew, Cygnus will deliver research, including materials to produce semiconductor crystals in space and equipment to develop improvements for cryogenic fuel tanks. Cygnus also will deliver a specialized UV light system to prevent biofilm growth and supplies to produce pharmaceutical crystals that could treat cancer and other diseases.

Cygnus Spacecraft

The Cygnus spacecraft is an uncrewed cargo vehicle operated by Northrop Grumman to deliver supplies, experiments, and equipment to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. It was originally developed by Orbital Sciences, later Orbital ATK, before becoming part of Northrop Grumman. Cygnus is made of two main sections: the Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM), built by Thales Alenia Space in Italy, and the Service Module, built by Northrop Grumman in the United States. The PCM holds the supplies, while the Service Module provides propulsion, power, and avionics. The spacecraft has evolved from the early Standard Cygnus to the Enhanced Cygnus, which is longer, carries more than 3,500 kilograms of cargo, and features more efficient solar arrays.

The first Cygnus mission, Orb-D1 (S.S. G. David Low), launched on September 18th, 2013, as a demonstration under NASA’s COTS program, successfully proving Cygnus could rendezvous with the ISS and safely reenter. Since then, it has flown numerous resupply missions, most launching aboard Antares rockets from Wallops Island, Virginia, though some have used Atlas V and Falcon 9, and each mission is named after a late astronaut.

Unlike SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon, Cygnus does not dock itself to the ISS but is captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm and berthed to a port. After unloading, it is filled with trash and intentionally destroyed during atmospheric reentry, sometimes deploying CubeSats or completing other secondary tasks before it burns up.

Courtesy of NASA.

Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond.

Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital-class reusable rocket.

Stats

Completed missions: 523

Total landings: 478

Total reflights: 446

The Falcon 9 has launched 71 humans into orbit since May 2020

Specs

Height: 70 m / 229.6 ft

Diameter: 3.7 m / 12 ft

Mass: 549,054 kg / 1,207,920 lb

Payload to Low Earth Orbit (LEO): 22,800 kg / 50,265 lb

Payload to Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO): 8,300 kg / 18,300 lb

Payload to Mars: 4,020 kg / 8,860 lb

On January 24, 2021, Falcon 9 launched the first ride-share mission to Sun Synchronous Orbit. It was delivering a record-setting 143 satellites to space. And while this was an important mission for SpaceX in itself, it was also the moment Falcon 9 overtook United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V for the total number of consecutive successful launches.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 had become America’s workhorse rocket, launching 31 times in 2021. It has already beaten that record this year, launching almost an average of once a week. While most of the launches deliver Starlink satellites to orbit, the company is still launching the most commercial payloads to orbit, too.

Falcon 9 is a medium-lift launch vehicle, with the capability to launch over 22.8 metric tonnes to low earth orbit. Unlike any other rocket, its first stage lands back on Earth after separating from its second stage. In part, this allows SpaceX to offer the cheapest option for most customers with payloads that need to reach orbit.

Under its ride-share program, a kilogram can be placed in a sun-synchronous orbit for a mere 1.1 million dollars, far cheaper than all other currently operating small satellite launch vehicles.

The reusability and fast booster turnaround times have made Falcon 9 the preferred choice for private companies and government agencies. This has allowed SpaceX to capture a huge portion of the launch market.

Photo courtesy of Jenny Hautmann for Supercluster.

Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) is one of two launch sites leased by SpaceX at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida, specifically designed for preparing and launching Falcon 9 rockets. Constructed in the early 1960s, SLC-40 was initially used for 55 Titan III and Titan IV rocket launches, including the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. The pad was active from June 18, 1965, to April 30, 2005.

SpaceX began leasing SLC-40 in 2007, converting it to support Falcon 9 rockets. The pad was first upgraded to accommodate the original version of Falcon 9 and later received another upgrade in 2013 to handle the larger, reusable Falcon 9 rocket. On September 1, 2016, an explosion during a Falcon 9 fueling test caused severe damage to the pad. It was rebuilt rapidly, with construction completed in just 10 months, from mid-February to late November 2017. SLC-40 resumed operations with the successful launch of a Dragon capsule to the International Space Station on December 15, 2017.

After adding a crew access arm to the launch tower, SpaceX launched their first crewed mission from SLC-40 on Saturday, September 28th 2024 for NASA's Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station.

Under SpaceX’s management, SLC-40 has been the site of numerous significant missions. Notable launches include the first all-commercial Dragon mission to the International Space Station, NASA’s DSCOVR mission, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) for NASA and MIT, the first satellite for Turkmenistan, the classified Zuma mission for Northrop Grumman and the U.S. government, the first GPS-III satellite, and the Beresheet lunar lander for Israel. Additionally, in September 2024, SLC-40 will host its first crewed launch with SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, marking a new milestone for the pad.

Cape Canaveral is a major launch site with four currently active launch pads for Atlas V, Delta IV Heavy, Falcon 9, and Minotaur rockets. Located on Florida’s east coast, it offers extensive access to space for a variety of missions, including those targeting the Space Station, Geostationary Earth Orbit, the Moon, interplanetary destinations, and polar trajectories. The site’s location ensures that launches occur over the open Atlantic Ocean, minimizing risks to populated areas.

Cape Canaveral is often confused with or referred to alongside NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island. While they are separate installations, both play pivotal roles in the U.S. space program. Cape Canaveral has a storied history of significant space missions, including the launch of the first U.S. Earth satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958; the first U.S. astronaut, Alan Shepard, in 1961; the first U.S. astronaut in orbit, John Glenn, in 1962; the launch of the first two-person U.S. spacecraft, Gemini 3, in 1965; and the first U.S. uncrewed lunar landing mission, Surveyor 1, in 1966.

SLC-40 and Cape Canaveral continue to be integral to SpaceX’s ambitious launch schedule and the broader U.S. space program, supporting a wide range of missions and contributing to advancements in space exploration.

Photo courtesy of Jenny Hautmann for Supercluster

LZ-2

Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2) is an 85 meter wide circular landing pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and is one of two SpaceX booster landing pads at the Florida spaceport.

The landing pad, as well as its twin, LZ-1 located a few dozen meters away, can support both single landings of a Falcon 9 or simultaneous landings of the two Falcon Heavy side boosters.

Photo courtesy of Jenny Hautmann for Superclsuter

Purchase This Photo Print

High-quality prints selected from the Supercluster team’s spaceflight photography are now available in our shop.

Our prints are produced on 10 mil (0.25 mm) thick, slightly glossy, fingerprint-resistant photo paper sourced from Japan.

Collect this photo of a booster landing: Jenny Hautmann's capture of Falcon Heavy side boosters returning to Earth after launch.

After launch, Cygnus will spend several days boosting itself up to the International Space Station. Upon arrival, two crew members will capture it with the Station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2, and berth it to the Earth-facing, or nadir, port on the Unity module.

Unity, also called Node-1, was the second module of the ISS to be launched. Carried into orbit on the STS-88 mission of the Shuttle Endeavour, Unity was joined to the Russian Zarya (“dawn”) module on December 6, 1998. Its nadir port later hosted two Space Shuttle dockings, STS-97 aboard Endeavour in December 2000 and STS-98 aboard Atlantis in February 2001, and since December 2015 has served as the sole berthing port for Cygnus cargo spacecraft.

Picture

The Unity module (without solar panels), with its nadir port visible at its center, is joined via spacewalk (an astronaut is visible to the right of the Unity–Zarya connection) to the Zarya module during STS-88 in December 1998.

Courtesy of NASA

Download the Supercluster app to track spacecraft traffic and view crewmembers aboard the International Space Station and China’s Tiangong Space Station.

Alternatively, you can use the web version of our Stations Dashboard on Supercluster's website.

We now track "Arrivals and Departures" for both stations through a new "Timetable" feature, covering crew rotations and cargo resupply missions.

You can also switch between the ISS and Tiangong to see their relative positions over Earth on our mini-map.

A recent update allows users to enable push alerts for notifications when space stations pass over their location.

Official Pit Crew.

4.76 Miles per Second.

White long sleeve cotton T-shirt. Fits true to size.

Click here to purchase one from our shop. Supplies are limited.