Northrop Grumman’s 11th Commercial Resupply Mission

The International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) National Laboratory is managing 13 payloads launching to the orbiting laboratory on Northrop Grumman’s 11th commercial resupply services (NG CRS-11) mission. NG CRS-11 is scheduled to launch to the ISS from Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia no earlier than Wednesday, April 17. ISS National Lab investigations included on this mission focus on materials and physical sciences, in-orbit manufacturing, drug development, and small satellite deployment.

On this mission, Northrop Grumman will validate a new late load capability that allows time-sensitive experiments to be loaded into its Cygnus capsule just 24 hours before liftoff. In the past, all cargo was loaded into the orbital capsule multiple days prior to launch. Once validated, this capability will be a significant benefit for ISS National Lab research partners to launch time-sensitive investigations such as rodent research payloads or other biological experiments.

Below provides information about the launch and will be continually updated.

Mission: NG CRS-11

Launch date: Wednesday, April 17, 2019 at 4:46 p.m. EST

Location: Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia

Launch Vehicle: Northrop Grumman’s Antares™ medium-class space launch vehicle

Spacecraft: Cygnus (Go here for more information on the Cygnus spacecraft.)

Payload: Supplies and science investigations for the ISS

The science investigations on this mission will be carried out during Expeditions 59 and 60 onboard the ISS. Included on this mission are 13 ISS National Lab investigations. Go here to learn more about these investigations.

Resources for Additional Information

• For NASA’s launch blog and more information about the mission, go here.
• For information on NASA’s mission coverage, go here.