Northrop Grumman Antares rocket launches Cygnus cargo ship to space station for NASA

By Amy Thompson 17 hours ago

It's headed to the International Space Station

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. — A Northrop Grumman-built Cygnus cargo ship lifted off from Virginia on Saturday (Feb. 20), carrying vital supplies for astronauts on the International Space Station. 

Perched atop a two-stage Antares rocket, the uncrewed Cygnus NG-15 spacecraft blasted off from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility here at 12:36 p.m. EDT (1736 GMT).

The craft is hauling more than 8,200 lbs. (3,719 kilograms) of cargo that include scientific equipment, fresh food and supplies for the seven astronauts on board the space station. It's also packed with new hardware and spacewalk equipment. 

The 139-foot-tall (42.5-meter) Antares rocket lifted off right on time, at the beginning of a planned 5-minute window. It's Cygnus NG-15 cargo ship is named after Katherine Johnson, the trailblazing NASA mathematician who helped make John Glenn's historic orbital flight — the first by an American astronaut — possible. Now, 59 years later, the S.S. Katherine Johnson embarks on her own flight to space on the 59th anniversary of Glenn's Friendship 7 Mercury flight. 

Video: Watch the Antares rocket launch of Cygnus NG-15!
Related: Private Antares rocket & Cygnus explained (infographic) 

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A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying the uncrewed Cygnus NG-15 cargo ship launches from Pad 0A of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia on Feb. 20, 2021. (Image credit: NASA TV)