Cygnus NG-23 XL Cargo Spacecraft Departure | International Space Station

Cygnus NG-23 XL Cargo Spacecraft Departure | International Space Station

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft, with its two prominent cymbal-shaped UltraFlex solar arrays, is in the grasp of the Canadarm2 robotic arm before being released and departing the International Space Station to complete its resupply mission.

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft, with its two prominent cymbal-shaped UltraFlex solar arrays, departs the International Space Station moments after being released from the grasp of the Canadarm2 robotic arm completing its resupply mission. 

The Canadarm2 robotic arm's latching end effector, or LEE, is pictured from a window on the International Space Station after it had released Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft into Earth orbit ending its resupply mission. The orbital outpost was soaring 271 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of southern Argentina when this photograph was taken. 

Expedition 74 Flight Engineer and NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir: "Another day on the International Space Station brings the departure of another vehicle, the last of our three cargo vehicles on the US Operating Segment (USOS). Today, we bid farewell to the Northrop Grumman Cygnus NG-23 cargo vehicle, named after our late colleague NASA astronaut Willie McCool. 

As I watched Cygnus disappear over the horizon, I took a moment to reflect and honor Willie, and all of the STS-107 crew, who honorably gave their lives in their effort to advance science and space exploration. 

Godspeed S.S. William 'Willie' C. McCool, thank you for your service!"

At 7:06 a.m. EDT, March 12, 2026, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL was released from the Canadarm2 robotic arm that earlier detached the cargo spacecraft from the Earth-facing port of the International Space Station’s Unity module. At the time of release, the station was flying about 260 miles over the south Atlantic Ocean.

The Cygnus XL spacecraft successfully departed the space station more than seven months after arriving at the orbiting laboratory to deliver about 11,000 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware and other cargo for NASA and its international partners.

The spacecraft will be commanded to deorbit on Saturday, March 14, to dispose of several thousand pounds of trash during its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, where it will "harmlessly" burn up.

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credit: NASA/Chris Williams

Date: March 12, 2026

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