Cygnus NG-11

Cygnus NG-11, previously known as CRS OA-11, is the twelfth flight of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its eleventh flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.[5][6] The mission launched on 17 April 2019 at 4:46 PM EST (20:46) UTC.[1] This is the last mission from the extended CRS1 (phase 1) contract; follow-up missions are part of the CRS2 contract.[7] NG-11 was also the first mission to load critical hardware onto Cygnus within the last 24 hours prior to launch, a new Antares feature.[8]

Cygnus NG-11

S.S. Roger Chaffee at the Space Station
Mission type	ISS resupply
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	2019-022A
SATCAT no.	44188
Mission duration	232 days, 18 hours, 42 minutes
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	S.S. Roger Chaffee
Spacecraft type	Enhanced Cygnus
Manufacturer	Northrop Grumman Thales Alenia Space
Start of mission
Launch date	17 April 2019, 20:46:07 (2019-04-17UTC20:46:07) UTC[1]
Rocket	Antares 230
Launch site	MARS LP-0A
Contractor	Northrop Grumman
End of mission
Decay date	06 December 2019 15:28 UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Inclination	51.6 degrees
Epoch	Planned
Berthing at ISS
Berthing port	Unity nadir
RMS capture	19 April 2019, 09:28 UTC[1]
Berthing date	19 April 2019, 11:31 UTC[1]
Unberthing date	6 August 2019, 13:30 UTC[2]
RMS release	6 August 2019, 16:15 UTC[3]
Time berthed	109 days, 1 hour, 59 minutes
Cargo
Mass	3,436 kg (7,575 lb)[4]
Pressurised	3,162 kg (6,971 lb)[4]
Unpressurised	239 kg (527 lb)[4]
Commercial Resupply Services   Cygnus flights

Orbital ATK and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) program, then Orbital Sciences designed and built Antares, a medium-class launch vehicle; Cygnus, an advanced maneuvering spacecraft, and a Pressurized Cargo Module which is provided by Orbital's industrial partner Thales Alenia Space.[9] Northrop Grumman purchased Orbital in June 2018; its ATK division was renamed Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems.[10]

Concurrently, Nepalese satellite NepaliSat-1 and Sri Lankan satellite Raavana 1 were launched as part of Cygnus NG-11 as deployable payloads.[11][12]

History

Antares launches the NG-11 mission.

Cygnus NG-11 is part of an extension program that enables NASA to cover the ISS resupply needs until the Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract enters in effect.[13] The mission launched at 4:46:07 PM from Wallops Island, VA.

Spacecraft

Main article: Cygnus (spacecraft)

Production and integration of Cygnus spacecraft is performed in Dulles, Virginia. The Cygnus service module is mated with the pressurized cargo module at the launch site, and mission operations are conducted from control centers in Dulles and Houston.[9] This will be the eighth flight of the Enhanced-sized Cygnus PCM.[14]

The spacecraft for the NG-11 is named the S.S. Roger Chaffee after Roger Chaffee who lost his life during training for the Apollo 1 mission.[15] On 17 April 2019 at 20:46 UTC, Antares launched the NG-11 mission to the International Space Station from Wallops Island, Virginia.[1][16]

Manifest

Total weight of cargo: 3,436 kg (7,575 lb), consisting of 3,162 kg (6,971 lb) in pressurized cargo and 239 kg (527 lb) in unpressurized cargo.[4]

• Crew supplies: 937 kg (2,065 lb)
• Science investigations: 1,569 kg (3,459 lb)
• Spacewalk equipment: 24 kg (53 lb)
• Vehicle hardware: 628 kg (1,384 lb)
• Computer resources: 5 kg (10 lb)
• Northrop Grumman-related equipment: 35 kg (77 lb)

Smallsats deployed during NG-11:

• AeroCube 10A (JimSat) and 10B (DougSat) by The Aerospace Corporation[17]
• Aeternitas, Ceres, and Libertas, three CubeSats in the Virginia CubeSat Constellation, launched as part of NASA's ELaNa-26 mission, developed by Old Dominion University, Virginia Tech, and the University of Virginia, respectively.[18][19]
• EntrySat[18]
• IOD-1 GEMS (In-Orbit Demonstration - Global Environmental Monitoring Satellite)[18]
• KRAKsat, a CubeSat created by Polish students from AGH University of Science and Technology and Jagiellonian University[18][20]
• SASSI² (Student Aerothermal Spectrometer Satellite of Illinois and Indiana)[21]
• Seeker, a free-flying NASA CubeSat for vehicle inspection[18]
• SpooQy 1[18]
• Światowid, a CubeSat by SatRevolution[18]
• 60 × ThinSats in 12 strings, experimental miniature satellites built by school children and university students[21][22]
• Uguisu, Raavana 1, and NepaliSat-1, 1U CubeSats developed by students in Japan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, respectively, as part of the BIRDS-3 Project[18]

References

1. Richardson, Derek (19 April 2019). "NG-11 Cygnus Begins 3-month ISS Stay". Spaceflight Insider. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
2. Todd, David (12 August 2019). "Cygnus NG-11 departs ISS dropping off satellites as it goes". Seradata. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
3. Clark, Stephen (6 August 2019). "Cygnus supply ship departs space station, begins extended mission". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
4. "Northrop Grumman CRS-11 Mission Overview" (PDF). NASA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
5. "Worldwide launch schedule". spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
6. "International Space Station Flight Schedule". Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. 15 May 2013.
7. Gebhardt, Chris (1 June 2018). "Orbital ATK looks ahead to CRS2 Cygnus flights, Antares on the commercial market". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
8. Foust, Jeff (16 April 2019). "Latest Cygnus mission to ISS includes new features". SpaceNews. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
9. "Cygnus Fact Sheet" (PDF). Orbital ATK. 24 March 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
10. Erwin, Sandra (5 June 2018). "Acquisition of Orbital ATK approved, company renamed Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems". SpaceNews. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
11. Paudel, Nayak (18 April 2019). "Nepal's first ever satellite launched into space". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
12. "Nepal, Sri Lanka Launch Their First Nano-Satellites Using US Rocket". Sputnik News. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
13. Leone, Dan (20 August 2015). "NASA Considering More Cargo Orders from Orbital ATK, SpaceX". SpaceNews.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
14. Leone, Dan (17 August 2015). "NASA Orders Two More ISS Cargo Missions From Orbital ATK". SpaceNews.com. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
15. "S.S. Roger Chaffee" (PDF). Northrop Grumman. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
16. Martz, Michael (17 April 2019). "Rocket launches from Wallops Island with student-inspired satellites from Richmond-area schools". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
17. Krebs, Gunter. "AeroCube 10A, 10B". Gunter's Space Page.
18. Clark, Stephen (19 April 2019). "Cygnus supply ship delivers 3.8-ton cargo load to International Space Station". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
19. "Upcoming ElaNa CubeSat Launches". NASA. Archived from the original on 13 March 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
20. "KRAKsat". Retrieved 5 November 2019.
21. Clark, Stephen (18 April 2019). "Antares rocket boosts Cygnus supply ship toward International Space Station". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
22. Krebs, Gunter. "ThinSat 1A, ..., 1L". Gunter's Space Page.