NG-21 Heads Towards the International Space Station

Cape Canaveral S.F.S., FL - This morning, August 4, 2024, after a delay yesterday for weather concerns, a Falcon 9 lifted off from Launch Complex 40 lofting the Northrup Grumman Cygnus supply craft. Liftoff came at 11:02 AM EDT.

This is the second time in 2024 that SpaceX using their workhorse Falcon9 rocket has launched Northrup Grumman’s Cygnus series supply capsules to the International Space Station. The first launch for the Falcon 9 and Cygnus combination launched on January 30, 2024 from Cape Canaveral S.F.S.

Lifting off from Launch Complex 40 on a North East trajectory the “S.S. Francis R “Dick” Scobee” will carry over 8,200 pounds of needed food supplies such as pump assemblies, spare water tank, and a solar array upgrade called iROSA, the eighth such kit needed to upgrade the existing solar arrays.

Hitching a ride with the Cygnus are 2 small Cube satellites. The CySat-1 developed by Iowa State University to measure Earth’s soil moisture using a software defined radiometer & DORA (Deployable Optical Receiver Apeture) built jointly by Arizona State University & JPL is a platform for experiments in the related fields of communications and cosmology

The “S.S. Francis R “Dick” Scobee” is named in honor of the fallen astronaut who perished in January, 1986 while commanding the Space Shuttle Challenger.

Shortly after launch, the Falcon 9 first stage booster successfully touched down at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral S.F.S.

Article and Stock Launch Image: Graham Smith 

Flight Images: Michael Howard