What takes place when you utilize a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to introduce Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus supply ship? A record-setting resupply objective to the International Space Station.

The very first flight of Northrop’s updated Cygnus spacecraft, called Cygnus XL, is on its method to the global research study laboratory after releasing Sunday night from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. This objective, referred to as NG-23, is set to come to the ISS early Wednesday with 10,827 pounds (4,911 kgs) of freight to sustain the laboratory and its seven-person team.

By a large margin, this is the heaviest freight load carried to the ISS by an industrial resupply objective. NASA astronaut Jonny Kim will utilize the spaceport station’s Canadian-built robotic arm to catch the freight ship on Wednesday, then position it on an accessory port for team members to open hatches and begin unloading the goodies inside.

A larger keg

The Cygnus XL spacecraft looks a lot like Northrop’s previous objectives to the station. It has a service module produced at the business’s factory in Northern Virginia. This sector of the spacecraft supplies power, propulsion, and other requirements to keep Cygnus running in orbit.

The most popular functions of the Cygnus freight truck are its circular, fan-like solar selections and an aluminum cylinder called the pressurized freight module that bears some similarity to a keg of beer. This is the aspect that identifies the Cygnus XL from earlier variations of the Cygnus supply ship.

The freight module is 5.2 feet (1.6 meters) longer on the Cygnus XL. The complete spacecraft is approximately the size of 2 Apollo command modules, according to Ryan Tintner, vice president of civil area systems at Northrop Grumman. Put another method, the volume of the freight area is comparable to two-and-a-half minivans.

“The most notable thing on this mission is we are debuting the Cygnus XL configuration of the spacecraft,” Tintner stated. “It’s got 33 percent more capacity than the prior Cygnus spacecraft had. Obviously, more may sound like better, but it’s really critical because we can deliver significantly more science, as well as we’re able to deliver a lot more cargo per launch, really trying to drive down the cost per kilogram to NASA.”

Freight modules for Northrop’s Cygnus spacecraft are constructed by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, using a comparable style to the one Thales utilized for numerous of the spaceport station’s long-term modules. Authorities progressed with the very first Cygnus XL objective after the preceding freight module was harmed throughout delivery from Italy to the United States previously this year.