The next cargo run to the International Space Station will arrive at the orbiting outpost midday on Monday.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft is expected to be captured by the Canadarm2 on the ISS around 12:50 p.m. EDT (1650 UTC). NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway will be at the controls of the robotic arm while fellow NASA astronaut Chris Williams monitors its arrival.
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage of the vehicle’s approach and capture beginning about 50 minutes prior to that moment.
The mission is the second flight of a Cygnus XL vehicle manufactured by Northrop Grumman. It launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Saturday, April 11, at 7:41 a.m. EDT (1141 UTC).
This was the fourth launch of a Cygnus spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket after the retirement of the Antares 230+. Northrop Grumman will transition to using its Antares 330 rocket when that vehicle is ready. It’s being developed in partnership with Firefly Aerospace, which will also help jointly create a new launch vehicle, called Eclipse.
