With about 7,400lb of science experiments, tools and food tightly packed inside, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft was launched aboard the company’s Antares rocket on 17 November.

Two days later, it reached the International Space Station (ISS), marking the company’s 10th cargo delivery to the orbiting laboratory, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last month.

For this mission (known as NG-10), Cygnus was named in honour of John Young, who was NASA’s longest-serving astronaut.

Early on 19 November, the SS John Young “performed flawlessly” as it manoeuvred to dock with the ISS. Once all the cargo has been unloaded, Cygnus will be filled with disposable items and ‘unberthed’ from the station.

Although it’s not a glamorous task, the removal of unwanted items is critical to the operation of the space station.

Upon departure early next year, Cygnus will release three cube satellites (CubeSats) from the attached ‘Nanoracks deployer’ fitted both above and below the ISS.

One of the CubeSats, known as MYSat-1, is the first satellite developed by Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi; it carries an imager and an experimental Lithium Ion battery designed by the university.

Northrop Grumman’s (www.northropgrumman.com) next Cygnus launch, NG-11, will take place in spring 2019, concluding the company’s work under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS)-1 contract.

Under this agreement, Cygnus will have delivered about 66,000lb of cargo to the ISS. Beginning in the second half of 2019, Northrop Grumman will carry out a minimum of six cargo missions under NASA’s CRS-2 contract.