Cygnus XL Cargo Spacecraft Separates from Falcon 9 | International Space Station

Cygnus XL Cargo Spacecraft Separates from Falcon 9 | International Space Station

Cygnus XL separation from the SpaceX Falcon rocket is confirmed. The spacecraft is expected to arrive at the International Space Station for capture in ~60 hours on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at 6:35 a.m. ET. 

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft lifted off at 6:11 p.m. EDT, September 14, 2025, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Filled with more than 11,000 pounds of scientific investigations, food, supplies, and equipment, Cygnus XL will arrive at the orbiting outpost on Wednesday, Sept. 17. NASA astronaut Jonny Kim will capture the spacecraft using the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm with assistance from NASA astronaut Zena Cardman. After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port for cargo unloading.

This mission is the first flight of the Cygnus XL, the larger, more cargo-capable version of the company’s solar-powered spacecraft. Northrop Grumman has named the spacecraft the S.S. William “Willie” C. McCool, in honor of the NASA astronaut that  perished in 2003 during the space shuttle Columbia accident.

More than 15 payloads sponsored by the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory are aboard. These projects could help improve medicine production, make the orbit around Earth safer, and enhance technology used in television, computer, and smartphone screens. The research aboard Cygnus aims to reduce harmful microbes, improve medication production, manage fuel pressure, and refine semiconductor crystals for next-generation technologies.

Learn more: https://go.nasa.gov/4m1jktI

Press Release:
https://issnationallab.org/press-releases/iss-national-lab-advances-research-in-space-with-dozens-of-experiments-on-next-cargo-mission/

Video Credit: SpaceX

Duration: 35 seconds
Release Date: Sept. 14, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Science #NorthropGrumman #CygnusCargoSpacecraft #CommercialResupplyServices #CRS23 #SpaceXFalcon9Rocket #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceTechnology #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #UnitedStates #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Japan #Expedition73 #STEM #Education #HD #Video