LAUNCH OF NORTHROP GRUMMAN CYGNUS-24 CARGO SHIP TO ISS, Apr 11, 2026, 7:41 am ET

Update, April 8: Launch has been delayed another day due to weather and is now scheduled for April 11 at 7:41 am ET.

Update, April 7: The launch has been delayed two days due to weather. Now April 10 at 8:03 am ET, with arrival at ISS on April 11 at 11:39 pm ET.

Update, April 4:  Liftoff is scheduled for 8:49 am ET on April 8. NASA coverage begins at 8:30 am ET.

If liftoff is on time, it will arrive at the ISS on April 10, with capture by Canadarm2 at 1:10 am ET. NASA coverage of arrival begins at 12:30 am ET.

Both will air on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel.

[Note Cygnus’s launch and arrival are taking place while the Artemis II mission is underway. NASA is providing limited coverage and no pre-launch briefings for Cygnus this time.]

Original Entry: NASA is targeting the launch of the next Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship, Cygnus-24, to the International Space Station no earlier than April 8, 2026.

More information is in NASA’s March 6, 2026 press release.

Northrop Grumman again will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The company discontinued its Antares 230 rocket after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine because its Russian and Ukrainian components no longer were available. It is building a new version with the U.S. company Firefly. Northrop Grumman bought three SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets for Cygnus while waiting for the new Antares rocket (called Antares 330 or Eclipse), but it’s not ready yet so purchased this additional launch in September 2025.