NASA: Cygnus capsule damaged in transit to launchpad is too damaged to launch
According to this Ars Technica article today, the Cygnus cargo capsule that was reported to be damaged several weeks ago while being transported in a shipping container to its launchpad has now been found too damaged for launch, according to NASA.
On Wednesday, after a query from Ars Technica, the space agency acknowledged that the Cygnus spacecraft designated for NG-22 is too damaged to fly, at least in the nearterm. “Following initial evaluation, there also is damage to the cargo module,” the agency said in a statement. “The International Space Station Program will continue working with Northrop Grumman to assess whether the Cygnus cargo module is able to safely fly to the space station on a future flight.” That future flight, NG-23, will launch no earlier than this fall.
As a result, NASA is modifying the cargo on its next cargo flight to the space station, the 32nd SpaceX Cargo Dragon mission, due to launch in April. The agency says it will “add more consumable supplies and food to help ensure sufficient reserves of supplies aboard the station” to the Dragon vehicle.
It will be at least half a year before the next Cygnus will be ready for launch.
As the article notes (and immediately occurred to me also), this incident creates an opportunity to help Boeing and Starliner. Last year there were rumors that NASA might pay Boeing to fly Starliner as an unmanned cargo flight to ISS. This would allow the company to test its fixes to the capsule without having to pay for another test flight. These rumors however have faded since Trump took power, suggesting the new administration did not want to pay that extra money.
The loss however of this Cygnus cargo mission not only frees up NASA cash that could be transferred to a Starliner cargo mission, it frees up a slot in the cargo schedule. It actually makes a lot of sense to give Boeing the job.
Unfortunately, unless someone higher up in the Trump administration (possibly Trump himself) makes the decision, we should not expect any action on this idea until NASA’s new administrator is confirmed by the Senate and takes office. And that event remains in limbo at this point.
In the meantime, NASA has no redundancy for getting cargo to ISS, and must rely entirely on SpaceX and its Dragon cargo capsules. A third option, Sierra Nevada’s Tenacity Dream Chaser reusable cargo mini-shuttle, is still not ready to launch. It was supposed to do its first test flight to ISS a year ago, but could not because ground testing had to be done first, and for reasons that are very unclear, it appears that testing has not yet been completed.
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According to this Ars Technica article today, the Cygnus cargo capsule that was reported to be damaged several weeks ago while being transported in a shipping container to its launchpad has now been found too damaged for launch, according to NASA.
On Wednesday, after a query from Ars Technica, the space agency acknowledged that the Cygnus spacecraft designated for NG-22 is too damaged to fly, at least in the nearterm. “Following initial evaluation, there also is damage to the cargo module,” the agency said in a statement. “The International Space Station Program will continue working with Northrop Grumman to assess whether the Cygnus cargo module is able to safely fly to the space station on a future flight.” That future flight, NG-23, will launch no earlier than this fall.
As a result, NASA is modifying the cargo on its next cargo flight to the space station, the 32nd SpaceX Cargo Dragon mission, due to launch in April. The agency says it will “add more consumable supplies and food to help ensure sufficient reserves of supplies aboard the station” to the Dragon vehicle.
It will be at least half a year before the next Cygnus will be ready for launch.
As the article notes (and immediately occurred to me also), this incident creates an opportunity to help Boeing and Starliner. Last year there were rumors that NASA might pay Boeing to fly Starliner as an unmanned cargo flight to ISS. This would allow the company to test its fixes to the capsule without having to pay for another test flight. These rumors however have faded since Trump took power, suggesting the new administration did not want to pay that extra money.
The loss however of this Cygnus cargo mission not only frees up NASA cash that could be transferred to a Starliner cargo mission, it frees up a slot in the cargo schedule. It actually makes a lot of sense to give Boeing the job.
Unfortunately, unless someone higher up in the Trump administration (possibly Trump himself) makes the decision, we should not expect any action on this idea until NASA’s new administrator is confirmed by the Senate and takes office. And that event remains in limbo at this point.
In the meantime, NASA has no redundancy for getting cargo to ISS, and must rely entirely on SpaceX and its Dragon cargo capsules. A third option, Sierra Nevada’s Tenacity Dream Chaser reusable cargo mini-shuttle, is still not ready to launch. It was supposed to do its first test flight to ISS a year ago, but could not because ground testing had to be done first, and for reasons that are very unclear, it appears that testing has not yet been completed.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
6 months to gin up another Cygnus module? This is a perfect example of how old-space works (or rather, doesn‘t work). SpaceX would have had a module ready in 6 weeks! Also, they need to improve their shipping methods. Something is clearly wrong with their procedures if the craft was damaged beyond use.
And if the Deep State had their way, there would be no SpaceX. Who would NASA turn to? Blue Origin, Roscosmos?
I told Billy Bob not to drive his truck while on medication–but noooo
This is a big deal and really puts NASA in a bind. This Cygnus was already running five months late due to a previously undisclosed avionics issue.
”It will be at least half a year before the next Cygnus will be ready for launch.”
At least. The next Cygnus is to be a new, larger version called the Mission B variant that will fly on the first flight of the new Antares 330. Neither new vehicle is likely to be done on time, and relying on the first flight of a new vehicle from a fairly inexperienced provider (Firefly) is really cranking up the risk.
”The loss however of this Cygnus cargo mission…frees up a slot in the cargo schedule [for Starliner].”
Unfortunately for NASA and Boeing, no, it doesn’t. Cygnus uses a CBM hatch and must berth to one of two nadir cargo berthing ports. Starliner uses an IDSS crew docking port and must dock to one of two IDAs. The two are not compatible.
”In the meantime, NASA has no redundancy for getting cargo to ISS, and must rely entirely on SpaceX and its Dragon cargo capsules.”
Unfortunately, it can’t do that either. The next cargo Dragon after this upcoming one, launching in August, is a long-duration engineering test of a Dragon trunk-based propulsion system designed to take over orbital reboost of the ISS should the Russian Service Module fail. It will tie up the forward IDA from just after Crew 10 departure in July to just before Crew 12 arrival next March. The Crew 11 Dragon will occupy the only other IDA. (This is the reason Crew 11 runs from July 2025 through March 2026 and why Crew 10 is so short.)
So, no, NASA can’t just order up another Cargo Dragon to make up the shortfall. Like I said, quite a bind. If only we had a third IDA…
I forgot to mention…
ISS has another cargo vehicle, and it even uses a CBM hatch: the Japanese HTV. Unfortunately, it uses the H-2 launch vehicle and is no longer available. Its replacement, the HTV-X, uses the new H-3 launch vehicle, but due to delays in both the H-3 and the HTV-X, it’s not available yet. The latest schedule from Japan has the HTV-X’s first flight in October. Let’s hope it holds.
One hopes, at least, that the companies and consortia developing next-generation LEO space stations will positively festoon them with docking ports.
Firefly has at least been to orbit — and, now they’ve been to the lunar surface. I think Northrop made a reasonable risk assessment in partnering with them. I think any likely alternative they might have pursued would have taken longer and cost even more.
But yes, rocket development programs have a way of sliding right.
It is telling, I think, that the current designs of both Axiom and Orbital Reef are, indeed, positively festooned with ports.
Even Starlab, which is a single launch station, has multiple ports — looks like, three of ’em. Likely sufficient for a station that small.