Q&A with Mark Sirangelo, leader of Sierra Nevada Space Systems

Engineers from Boeing and a team of subcontractors have finished building the first pair of six new solar arrays to bolster the International Space Station’s aging electrical system ahead of their launch to the orbiting outpost as soon as May aboard SpaceX’s next Cargo Dragon mission.

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket launch April 17 from Virginia’s Eastern Shore marked the start of the 11th Cygnus resupply mission to the International Space Station.

A Japanese HTV cargo freighter departed the International Space Station Friday and headed for a destructive re-entry, disposing of trash and obsolete solar array batteries replaced with more capable power packs on a series of spacewalks outside the orbiting research lab.