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Cygnus (enhanced PCM version) [Northrop Grumman]
Orbital and NASA's Johnson Space Center are jointly developing a new space transportation system in a three-year cooperative program to support the International Space Station (ISS). The COTS program will involve full-scale development and flight demonstration of a commercial cargo delivery system. The COTS system will consist of:
- Antares, a new medium-class launch vehicle being developed by Orbital
- Cygnus, an advanced maneuvering spacecraft, and
- Several interchangeable modules for pressurized and unpressurized cargo.
The Spacecraft consists of a Service Module (SM), which can be used with either a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) or an Unpressurized Cargo Module (UCM) (now cancelled). The PCM is based on the MPLM-Logistics-Module, while the UCM is based on the Express Cargo Carrier, which were both used with the Shuttle. The PCM is manufactured by Thales-Alenia.
| Nation: | USA |
|---|---|
| Type / Application: | Space Station logistics |
| Operator: | NASA |
| Contractors: | Northrop Grumman |
| Equipment: | |
| Configuration: | |
| Propulsion: | IHI BT-4, 32 × MR-106M |
| Power: | 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries |
| Lifetime: | 66 days |
| Mass: | 7492 kg (#4) |
| Orbit: | 400 km × 400 km, 51.6 (typical) |
| Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cygnus CRS-22R (NG 22R) ? | - | 202x | WI LC-0A | Antares-330 | ||
| Cygnus CRS-23 (NG 23, S.S. William Willie C. McCool) | 2025-208A | 14.09.2025 | CC SLC-40 | Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) | with Cygnus CRS-23, DUPLEX, EagleSat 2, BLAST, QubeSat 2, Alpha, Alpha Sail, ContentCube, RHOK-SAT, Yotsuba-KUlover, BOTAN, e-kagaku-1 | |
| Cygnus CRS-24 (NG 24, S.S. Steven R. Nagel) | 2026-079A | 11.04.2026 | CC SLC-40 | Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) | with Hokushin 1, LEOPARDSat 1, Coconut, HUCSat, Proves-Alcyone, Proves-Atlas, Proves-Electra | |
| Cygnus CRS-25 (NG 25) | - | 202x | WI LC-0A | Antares-330 | ||
| Cygnus CRS-26 (NG 26) | - | 202x | WI LC-0A | Antares-330 |
Launch Sites:
- CC = Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Eastern Test Range, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA
- WI = Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia, USA
References:
- Orbital Sciences Corp.: Cygnus fact sheet
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Further Cygnus missions:
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Further ISS missions: ISS complex
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