The first time the Cygnus capsule successfully maneuvered the ISS, Russia began to have competition

FLORIDA – Spaceship or Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo capsule for the first time to successfully maneuver International Space Station (ISS) into operational orbit at an altitude of 250 miles or 402.2 Km above Earth. Last week the Cygnus capsule failed to maneuver the ISS due to a sudden engine failure.

The reboost, or maneuver propelling the ISS into operational orbit, will take place on Saturday June 25, 2022, marking the first time the Cygnus spacecraft has performed a full reboost procedure. The previous reboot attempt occurred last week, but it lasted only 5 seconds from the planned 5 minutes, due to a machine glitch.

During the reboost procedure, Cygnus fires its gimbal engine to raise the space station’s altitude to 0.16 kilometers at apogee and 0.8 km at perigee. This reboost maneuver is carried out regularly and is necessary to prevent the ISS from falling into the Earth’s atmosphere.

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The Cygnus NG-17 mission launched on February 19 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia carrying 3,765 kilograms of scientific experimentation, food, and other supplies. The craft, named after the late NASA astronaut Piers Sellers, a climate scientist, then docked two days later with the help of a robotic arm.