Cygnus and the NG-20 Mission Head Towards the International Space Station

Cape Canaveral S.F.S., FL. – Liftoff! At 12:07 EST of January 30, 2024, a Falcon 9 rocket roared to life at Launch Complex 40 lofting the Northrop Grumman Cygnus 20 (NG-20) spacecraft towards a rendezvous with the International Space Station (I.S.S.). 

This was the first launch of a Cygnus spacecraft on a Falcon 9. This Cygnus spacecraft is taking more than 8000 pounds of supplies, food and equipment to the station and was named the S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson in honor of this astronaut that was killed in a plane crash in 2001, a year before her scheduled flight to the I.S.S. 

Once Cygnus arrives at the I.S.S., it will dock with the Unity portion of the station where it is scheduled to stay until mid summer before being filled with non-essential supplies that will then burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere on reentry. Shortly after launch, the previously flown first stage booster made a successful lading at LZ-1. 

Image Credits: Michael Howard for We Report Space