WASHINGTON — The Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket for the first time, but the combination required more changes to the rocket than the spacecraft.
NASA announced at a press conference on January 26 that it is targeting launch of the NG-20 cargo mission from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 on January 30 at 12:07 pm ET. This is a day off from the previous plan. The agency said this was to “accommodate launch pad preparations.” If Cygnus were to launch on that day, it would arrive at the International Space Station early on February 1st.
This launch marks the first time that Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft has flown on Falcon 9. Previous Cygnus launches have been launched on Northrop’s Antares rockets, with the exception of two missions launched on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 after the Antares launch failure in 2016. 2014.
Northrop plans to launch at least three Cygnus missions on Falcon 9 rockets while working with Firefly Aerospace to develop a new version of Antares, including a Ukrainian-made first stage with a Russian engine. will be replaced by a stage developed by Firefly using its own engine. That vehicle, the Antares 330, is expected to begin launching as early as mid-2025.
For Northrop, the transition to Falcon 9 was relatively smooth. “We didn’t really need to make any modifications to Cygnus,” Cyrus Dara, Northrop Grumman’s vice president and general manager of tactical space systems, said at a press conference. The company made some changes to its cargo loading process, which he attributed to new facilities with different equipment.
He added that changing the launch vehicle will not change Cygnus’ performance. The NG-20 mission will carry a cargo of just over 3,700 kilograms, which is the capacity of the current version of the vehicle.
However, SpaceX had to make changes to accommodate Cygnus, specifically allowing for “delayed loading” of cargo within 24 hours of launch. Antares has a “pop-top” opening at the top of the rocket’s payload fairing, allowing access to the Cygnus inside for loading cargo after the spacecraft is encapsulated.
Space I created something called. This is a 1.5 x 1.2 door. Meters on the sides of the fairing can be opened to provide environmentally controlled access to the Cygnus inside.
“This is the first time we’ve done this,” he said as SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft was launched without a fairing. “It took a lot of modifications on our part to get this hardware ready to go live.” He added that even after installing the door on the payload fairing, SpaceX had to retrieve it. It added that it does not affect the ability to reuse.
“We really appreciate how SpaceX worked with us to address cargo flow and integration, and we were able to reuse many steps,” Darla said. Ta.
In addition to developing payload fairing doors for Cygnus launches, SpaceX has tested modifications to the transport erector at Launch Complex 39A that allow it to carry liquid methane and oxygen propellants. This is required for the launch of Intuitive Machines’ upcoming lunar module IM-1, which will be fueled at a pad within the payload fairing shortly before liftoff.
Gerstenmayer said SpaceX is currently testing its equipment to see if it is ready for the IM-1 launch, scheduled for mid-February. “That work is pretty much progressing smoothly,” he said. “This is a very interesting integration, but as you can see with this Northrop Grumman 20 mission, we at SpaceX like to do innovative and creative things.”