New Delhi: On September 11, the Progress 93 cargo shuttle launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, spending two days in orbit before docking autonomously to the aft port on the Zvezda module of the International Space Station (ISS) on 13 September. The autonomous Progress craft was carrying three tons of food, fuel and supplies to the ISS. At that time, the Cygnus XL cargo craft by Northrop Grumman was on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 at Space Launch Complex 40, at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Falcon 9 lifted off a day later, on 14 September, with the Cygnus reaching its preliminary orbit in about 10 minutes.
A Cygnus Cargo Shuttle with its solar panels deployed approaching the ISS on 6 August, 2024. (Image Credit: NASA).
The Cygnus Xl spacecraft deployed its pair of solar arrays on Sunday, and will spend two days in orbit, before reaching the ISS on 17 September, where it will dock with the Earth-facing port on the Unity Module. The Cygnus cargo shuttle will remain docked with the ISS till March 2026. At the station, the astronauts on board will capture the Cygnus XL using the Canadarm2 robotic arm. The Cygnus XL cargo shuttle is carrying about 4990 kg of new science experiments and hardware meant for installation on the orbital complex.
Cost to launch
It takes about $2,720 to launch one kg into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9. The estimates for a Soyuz launch per kg vary widely, but is between $5,000 and $7,000. The biggest cost of launching to space is flying through the thick, lower atmosphere of the Earth. The innovation by SpaceX that allows it to bring down the cost of launches is to reuse the first stage or ‘boosters’ of its launch vehicles. Previously, these first stage boosters used to be discarded before the launch. SpaceX is aiming for complete reusability with its Starship.