Cygnus XL Leaves the Space Station
Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft was released from the International Space Station's robotic arm on Oct. 9, NASA said, nearly six months after delivering about 11,000 pounds of supplies.
Written on Oct. 16, 2026 from the source documents listed below, after the dates it covers.
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The story
Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft left the International Space Station on Friday, Oct. 9, NASA said. After the spacecraft was detached from the Earth-facing port of the station's Unity module, the Canadarm2 robotic arm released it at 12:44 p.m.
EDT. At that moment the station was flying about 260 miles above the Pacific Ocean.
The capsules are designed to eject as the vehicle breaks apart and send back data on how experimental heat shield materials hold up during re-entry.
Cygnus XL had arrived nearly six months earlier with about 11,000 pounds of supplies, science investigations, commercial products, hardware and other cargo for NASA and its international partners. It did not leave empty.
Mission controllers planned to command the spacecraft to deorbit on Monday, Oct. 12, carrying several thousand pounds of disposal items and unneeded cargo into Earth's atmosphere, where NASA says it will harmlessly burn up. NASA said it would not provide coverage of the deorbit.
The trip down also has a science job. NASA's Ames Research Center said this Cygnus, from Northrop Grumman's 24th resupply mission for NASA, carried 12 small experimental capsules for the Kentucky Re-entry Probe Experiment, known as KREPE-3.
The capsules are designed to eject as the vehicle breaks apart and send back data on how experimental heat shield materials hold up during re-entry.
Sources
The primary documents behind this story, with direct links to each one.
- Cygnus XL Cargo Spacecraft Released from Station by Canadarm2
- NASA Demonstrates Next-Generation Heat Shield Technologies
Image and footage credits: Lead image: NASA+ · NASA Images and Media Usage Guidelines (NASA content generally not subject to U.S. copyright) · NASA · NASA Images and Media Usage Guidelines (NASA content generally not subject to U.S. copyright)
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NASA Tests Heat Shields on a Cygnus Re-entry
NASA is testing new heat shield materials by flying 12 small capsules inside a departing Cygnus cargo ship that will break apart on re-entry, the agency's Ames Research Center said Oct. 9.
