posted 03-10-2026 04:18 PM               

Northrop Grumman names spacecraft for late shuttle astronaut Steven Nagel

A late NASA astronaut who was among the small number who filled all three career positions on a space shuttle crew — mission specialist, pilot and commander — is being memorialized with the naming of a commercial cargo spacecraft.

Northrop Grumman on Tuesday (March 10) announced that its next Cygnus XL capsule to launch to the International Space Station will be named for Steven Nagel. The company's 24th commercial resupply services (CRS-24) mission for NASA is targeted to lift off no earlier than April 8 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

posted 04-08-2026 09:50 AM               

SpaceX is targeting Saturday, April 11 for the Falcon 9 launch of Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL commercial resupply mission (NG-24) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Liftoff is targeted for 7:41 a.m. EDT, with a backup launch opportunity available on Sunday, April 12 at 7:15 a.m. EDT.