NASA Launches A Northrop Grumman Cygnus Spacecraft To The ISS

NASA has confirmed the successful launch of a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo resupply ship to the ISS. The Cygnus spacecraft had more than 8200 pounds of cargo and scientific investigations aboard. It launched at 6:01 PM EDT on Tuesday from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

NASA confirmed that at 8:46 PM, the solar arrays powering the spacecraft deployed, and it was on its way to rendezvous with the ISS. Cygnus is scheduled to arrive at the space station at 6:10 AM on Thursday, August 12. The arrival will be broadcast via the NASA website and NASA app.

Live coverage of the approach and arrival will begin at 4:45 AM. Cygnus will be captured using the space station Canadarm2 by NASA astronaut Megan McArthur. It will be attached to the earth-facing port on the Unity module.

The mission is the 16th cargo flight conducted by Northrop Grumman under its Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract. The Cygnus cargo ship was launched using an Antares 230+ rocket.