NASA, Northrop Grumman Complete Cygnus XL Space Station Reboost
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft today fired its thrusters for XX mins, XX seconds boosting the International Space Station’s orbit. The post NASA, Northrop Grumman Complete Cygnus XL Space Station Reboost appeared first on NASA Science .
NASA and Northrop Grumman successfully completed a Cygnus XL space station reboost on August 27, 2026. The maneuver employed the Cygnus XL's gimbaled delta velocity engine to adjust the International Space Station's altitude by 1.5 miles at its farthest point from Earth (apogee) and 0.8 miles at its closest point (perigee). This boosted the station to an orbit of 265.5 x 256.8 miles.
The Cygnus XL, part of NASA's Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 24 mission, had arrived at the orbital complex on April 13, carrying over 11,000 pounds of science and supplies. Cygnus will stay attached to the station until October, when it will be loaded with disposal cargo and burned up during reentry into Earth's atmosphere.
This reboost positions the stage for NASA's upcoming SpaceX Crew-13 mission, which is set to launch on or before October 1 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Crew-13 mission will include NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.
Upon arrival at the space station, Crew-13 will join the Expedition 75 crew. For more information on space station activities, followers can check the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook page and Instagram account.
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