4.11.2026
NASA Invites Media to Northrop Grumman CRS-25 Station Resupply Launch
Media accreditation is open for the next launch to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. A Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL spacecraft will launch in November to the orbital laboratory on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for NASA.
The mission is known as NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 25, or NASA’s Northrop Grumman CRS-25. Liftoff is targeted for no earlier than 10:49 a.m. EST, Sunday, Nov. 29, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Following launch, astronauts aboard the space station will use the Canadarm2 robotic arm to capture Cygnus and install the spacecraft to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port for cargo unloading. The spacecraft will remain at the space station until May 2027. This is the company’s 25th spacecraft built to deliver supplies to the International Space Station under contract with NASA.
Credentialing to cover prelaunch and launch activities is open to U.S. media. The application deadline for U.S. citizens is 11:59 p.m. EST, Thursday, Nov. 12. All accreditation requests must be submitted online at:
Credentialed media will receive a confirmation email following approval. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online. For questions about accreditation, or to request special logistical support, email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. For other questions, please contact NASA’s Kennedy Space Center newsroom at: 321-867-2468.
In addition to food, supplies, and equipment for the crew, Cygnus will deliver several new experiments, including hardware to manufacture tiny, DNA-inspired particles in space that could improve drug delivery for cancer and osteoarthritis, as well as a study that could guide cancer treatments by predicting whether a patient’s cancer is likely to spread to other parts of the body. Cygnus also will carry human muscle cells and medications to test therapeutics for muscle loss associated with spaceflight and aging on Earth, and a compact radiation sensordesigned to improve crew safety on future missions.
Each resupply mission to the station delivers scientific investigations in the areas of biology and biotechnology, Earth and space science, physical sciences, and technology development and demonstrations. Cargo resupply from U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver scientific research to the space station, increasing NASA’s ability to conduct new investigations aboard humanity’s laboratory in space.
For 26 years, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and making research breakthroughs that are not possible on Earth. The space station is an important testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies concentrate on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a strong low Earth orbit economy, NASA is focusing its resources on deep space missions to the Moon as part of the Artemis and Moon Base programs to build on our foundation for the first astronaut missions to Mars.
Quelle: NASA
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Northrop Grumman names Cygnus cargo capsule after James Lovell
The first person to fly twice to the moon is being honored with the naming of a cargo spacecraft bound for the International Space Station.
The late James Lovell, who was one of the first three people to see Earth's natural satellite up-close before commanding the ill-fated Apollo 13 moon landing mission, is being remembered by a NASA contractor.
"NG-25 will carry more than cargo; it will carry a legacy," a Northrop Grumman spokesman announced in a video statement. "Each Cygnus spacecraft is named in honor of a pioneer whose vision, courage and contributions have advanced human spaceflight. It's our way of paying tribute to the people who made today's missions possible, and inspiring the next generation to follow in their footsteps."
The Cygnus is targeted to launch this fall on the NG-25 mission, the company's 25th NASA-contracted resupply flight since January 2014.
"For NG-25, Northrop Grumman is proud to announce that the Cygnus spacecraft will be named the 'S.S. James A. Lovell," said the spokesman.
A naval aviator who joined NASA in 1962 with its second group of astronauts, Lovell first flew on two Gemini missions: Gemini 7, which achieved the first rendezvous with another crewed spacecraft (Gemini 6A), and Gemini 12, the final mission of the program and the first to include a fully-successful spacewalk.
He was then a member of the Apollo 8 crew, the first mission to reach and orbit the moon. His last flight was as the leader of the Apollo 13 crew, who safely made it home after an inflight explosion crippled the mission's service module.
Lovell died in August 2025 at the age of 97, after seeing his story being told as a feature-length movie starring Tom Hanks.
"This Cygnus spacecraft will carry forward the spirit of exploration, problem-solving and dedication that defined Lovell's remarkable career," a spokesman for Northrop Grumman said.
This is the fourth honor for Lovell this year. In April, NASA's Artemis II crew — the first astronauts to fly by the moon in more than 50 years — carried with them an Apollo 8 silkscreened patch that was inscribed by Lovell as having flown on the 1968 mission. That same month, the directors of "Apollo 13," Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, paid tribute to Lovell at the Breakthrough Prize Ceremony, called the "Oscars of Science."
Then, earlier this month, Johnson Space Center dedicated a tree in its memorial grove to the late astronaut.
The S.S. James A. Lovell is the third Cygnus XL, a design capable of carrying 33 percent more cargo than previous variants of the spacecraft, and the sixth Cygnus to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket while Northrop Grumman's next generation of Antares rockets is under development.
The cargo it delivers will be in support of the space station's Expedition 75 crew.
Previous Cygnus namesakes have included company executive J.R. Thompson, Air Force Manned Orbiting Lab candidate Robert Lawrence, NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson and NASA astronauts David Low, Gordon Fullerton, Janice Voss, Deke Slayton, Alan Poindexter, John Glenn, Roger Chaffee, Piers Sellers, Sally Ride, Patricia Robertson, Dick Scobee, Willie McCool and Steven Nagel.
Lovell is the fourth of the Apollo lunar voyagers to be honored after Gene Cernan, John Young and Alan Bean.
