NASA and Northrop Grumman will not launch the Cygnus cargo mission to the International Space Station in June, as previously planned, after detecting damage to the spacecraft.
In a statement from 26 NASA announced in March, that the sealed cargo module for Cygnus, who was to fly on the NG-22 mission to the ISS, damaged and will not be used for this mission, which was supposed to be launched in June. NASA said, that the next Cygnus mission will be NG-23, scheduled not earlier than this autumn.
NASA had warned three weeks earlier about the possibility of damage to the spacecraft after that, as the company Northrop reported, that his module's vehicle was damaged as a result, as the company called it, "accidents with a commercial vessel" during transport to the launch site. Then the agency reported, which will adjust the cargo manifest for the next Dragon mission to the station, SpX-32, replacing some scientific research with crew supplies and station equipment in case NG-22 is delayed.
"The big problem for us is that, when our flights begin to change", - Dana Weigel said, NASA ISS program manager, at the briefing 7 March. She noted, that the launch of the NG-22 was previously scheduled for February, but delayed due to avionics problem, about which no NASA, nor was Northrop Grumman widely reported.
NASA said in a statement, which will work with Northrop, to “evaluate, is the Cygnus cargo module able to safely reach the space station during its future flight".
The agency did not disclose, how many studies will be removed from SpX-32 to accommodate additional consumables. Previous Dragon cargo mission, SpX-31 in November, transported 961 kilograms of supplies for the crew and 917 kilograms of scientific research. SpX-30 in March 2024 year transported 545 kilograms of supplies for the crew and 1135 kilograms of scientific research.
І Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX transported cargo to and from the station under a series of contracts, that date 2008 year. The third company, Sierra Space, also has a contract for commercial freight services for cargo transportation, but has yet to fly her Dream Chaser vehicle due to significant delays.
The Japanese space agency JAXA is also working on HTV-X, upgraded version of its HTV cargo vehicle for the station. The first HTV-X launch is scheduled for this fall.
The NG-21 Cygnus spacecraft has been stationed at the station since August, having arrived, despite technical problems, which delayed the initial maneuvers from the ascent to orbit. The station's Canadarm2 robotic arm will dock Cygnus from the station at the start 28 March, and the exit of the spacecraft is scheduled for 30 March.
Source: https://spacenews.com/cygnus-mission-to-iss-scrapped-after-finding-spacecraft-damage/