Cape Canaveral, United States - September 15, 2025 A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched an upgraded Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft on Sunday, sending over five tons of supplies and spare parts toward the International Space Station (ISS). The unpiloted freighter is expected to be captured by the station’s robotic arm early Wednesday. The cargo includes essential items such as nitrogen, oxygen, food, toilet components, and a large assortment of spare parts for critical systems, including the station’s urine processor. “We’re stocking up on these items since we were short over the past year, and we’d like to have a good reserve for the future,” said Dina Contella, deputy manager of the space station program at the Johnson Space Center. The shipment also features special foods for the crew, including clams, oysters, crab, roast turkey, smoked salmon, candies, cookies, ice cream, and a high school breakfast competition dish called shakshuka scramble. Lift-off occurred at 6:11 p.m. EDT from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Falcon 9 first stage generated 1.7 million pounds of thrust, separated, and successfully returned for SpaceX’s 67th Florida landing and 505th booster recovery overall. The second stage deployed Cygnus into its preliminary orbit 14-and-a-half minutes after liftoff. This mission marks the first flight of the Cygnus XL, lengthened by about 1.6 meters to carry approximately 2,600 pounds more cargo than previous models. It is also the third of at least four SpaceX launches contracted by Northrop Grumman as the company develops its own booster. The mission follows the arrival of a Russian Progress cargo ship on Thursday, which delivered propellant, a new spacesuit, and other supplies. NASA relies on both SpaceX’s Dragon and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus for regular resupply, with SpaceX completing 32 successful Dragon missions and Northrop Grumman 21 Cygnus flights to date.