NASA to broadcast Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL departure from space station

NASA will provide live coverage of the departure of Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL spacecraft from the International Space Station, scheduled for Friday, October 9, according to a NASA release.

The spacecraft delivered more than 11,000 pounds of supplies, science experiments and other cargo to the ISS as part of Northrop Grumman's Commercial Resupply Services-24 mission, known as CRS-24, one in a series of contracted cargo flights NASA uses to keep the station stocked with equipment and research materials.

NASA said its live coverage of the undocking and departure process will begin at 12:30, though the release cited by the agency does not specify the time zone or the exact undocking time beyond that starting point.

The Cygnus XL is an enlarged variant of Northrop Grumman's Cygnus cargo spacecraft, designed to carry a greater volume of cargo to the station than earlier versions. Resupply missions such as CRS-24 are a routine part of ISS operations, with contracted providers including Northrop Grumman and SpaceX rotating cargo flights to the station throughout the year.

Following its departure from the station, Cygnus spacecraft are typically used to dispose of station waste before a controlled re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, though NASA's release did not detail the specific post-departure plan for this mission.