The cargo spacecraft fired for 18 minutes to raise the ISS orbit and improve phasing for an October crew launch.
Thumbnail source ↗Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft fires its engines while berthed to the Unity module, lifting the International Space Station’s orbit. The orbital reboost placed the station at the correct altitude for the rendezvous and docking of the Progress 96 resupply ship, scheduled to launch in early September.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL fired its thrusters for 18 minutes, raising the International Space Station’s orbit by about 1.5 miles at apogee and 0.8 miles at perigee.
The maneuver helps set orbital phasing for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission, targeted no earlier than October 1.
Cygnus is doing double duty: it delivered more than 11,000 pounds of supplies in April, can now provide station reboost capability, and will eventually depart loaded with disposal cargo for destructive reentry.
