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Northrop-Made Cygnus Spacecraft Reboosts ISS

Northrop-Made Cygnus Spacecraft Reboosts ISS - top government contractors - best government contracting event
Cygnus spacecraft

A Northrop Grumman-built cargo spacecraft has reboosted the International Space Station to its desired altitude on orbit in preparation for future space operations.

The company said Monday Cygnus used its main onboard engine to conduct station orbit adjustment several months after the spacecraft docked to the ISS to deliver equipment and supplies to the astronauts aboard the space lab.

“This reboost of the ISS using Cygnus adds a critical capability to help maintain and support the space station,” commented Steve Krein, vice president of civil and commercial space for tactical space systems unit at Northrop.

The reboost mission on Saturday built on lessons gained from an earlier but suspended attempt to adjust the orbit of the station.

Aside from doing cargo supply and performing an operational reboost, Cygnus will help inform other Northrop-led human space initiatives.

“Cygnus is the basis of the Habitation and Logistics Outpost, or HALO, the first module planned for NASA’s Lunar Gateway which will orbit the moon and serve as a staging point for exploration of the lunar surface and enable future exploration beyond the moon,” said Krein.

The spacecraft marked its first mission to the ISS in 2013.

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Written by Christine Thropp

oversees day-to-day content production for ExecutiveBiz, a publication under Executive Mosaic's media group covering government contracting industry news. She also writes about executive movements and commentaries, M&A activities, contract awards and technology and service offerings of medium-sized businesses and other GovCon companies. Prior to assuming her current responsibilities with EBiz, Thropp produced daily competitive intelligence briefings for the company's GovCon customers.

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