SpaceX capped off a busy Sunday with the launch of Northrop Grumman’s NG-23 resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying Northrop Grumman’s new Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 3:11 p.m. PT/6:11 p.m. ET on September 14.
The Cygnus XL marks Northrop Grumman’s biggest cargo ship yet, capable of hauling up to 11,000 pounds (4,990 kg) of supplies to orbit — a sizable upgrade over the previous version’s 8,500-pound capacity. For NG-23, the freighter is carrying science payloads that include materials for producing semiconductor crystals in microgravity, tools for improving cryogenic fuel tanks, a UV system to combat microbial growth in water, and pharmaceutical crystal experiments that could lead to new cancer treatments.
This particular spacecraft is named the S.S. William “Willie” McCool, honoring the late NASA astronaut who perished in the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia accident. It is scheduled to arrive at the ISS on Wednesday, September 17, at 3:35 a.m. PT/6:35 a.m. ET, where it will be captured by Canadarm2 before being berthed to the orbiting lab. Cygnus will remain attached until March 2026, when it will be released and proceed to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
For SpaceX, this was the fourth flight of the Falcon 9 booster supporting NG-23. The rocket’s first stage previously launched Ax-4, Crew-11, and a Starlink mission. Following stage separation, the booster landed successfully on Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral. Check out the full launch in the video below:
Earlier the same day, SpaceX also launched 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, marking its milestone 300th Starlink mission.
With Starlink deployments continuing at pace, and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL debut now in orbit, SpaceX’s launch cadence shows no signs of slowing. Looking ahead, things are set to ramp up significantly in 2026, when SpaceX plans to begin launching its Starship V3 vehicle on heavy flights and attempt its first-ever “catch” of the fully reusable spacecraft.
