| NG-11 | |
| Names List: | OA-11 (2016–2018) |
| Mission Type: | ISS logistics |
| Operator: | Northrop Grumman |
| Spacecraft: | S.S. Roger Chaffee |
| Spacecraft Type: | Enhanced Cygnus |
| Launch Date: | UTC (4:46:07pmEDT)[1] |
| Launch Rocket: | Antares 230 |
| Launch Site: | MARS, Pad 0A |
| Disposal Type: | Deorbited |
| Decay Date: | UTC |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric orbit |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth orbit |
| Orbit Inclination: | 51.66° |
| Apsis: | gee |
| Docking: | |
| Insignia: | Cygnus NG-11 Patch.png |
| Insignia Caption: | NASA insignia |
| Programme: | Commercial Resupply Services |
| Previous Mission: | SpaceX CRS-16 |
| Next Mission: | SpaceX CRS-17 |
| Programme2: | Cygnus flights |
| Previous Mission2: | NG-10 |
| Next Mission2: | NG-12 |
NG-11, previously known as OA-11, is the twelfth flight of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its eleventh flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-1) contract with NASA. The mission launched on 17 April 2019 at 20:46:07 UTC.[1] This is the last mission from the extended CRS-1 (phase 1) contract; follow-up missions are part of the CRS-2 contract.[4] Cygnus NG-11 was also the first mission to load critical hardware onto Cygnus within the last 24 hours prior to launch, a new Antares feature.[5]
Orbital ATK and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) program, then Orbital Sciences designed and built Antares, a medium-class launch vehicle; Cygnus, an advanced maneuvering spacecraft, and a Pressurized Cargo Module which is provided by Orbital's industrial partner Thales Alenia Space. Northrop Grumman purchased Orbital in June 2018; its ATK division was renamed Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems.[6]
Concurrently, Nepalese satellite NepaliSat-1 and Sri Lankan satellite Raavana 1 were launched as part of Cygnus NG-11 as deployable payloads.[7]
Cygnus NG-11 is part of an extension program that enables NASA to cover the ISS resupply needs until the Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract enters in effect. The mission launched on 17 April 2019, at 20:46:07UTC from Wallops Island, Virginia.
See main article: Cygnus (spacecraft).
Production and integration of Cygnus spacecraft is performed in Dulles, Virginia. The Cygnus service module is mated with the pressurized cargo module at the launch site, and mission operations are conducted from control centers in Dulles, Virginia and Houston, Texas. This will be the eighth flight of the Enhanced-sized Cygnus PCM.
The spacecraft for the NG-11 is named the S.S. Roger Chaffee after Roger Chaffee who lost his life during training for the Apollo 1 mission.[8] On 17 April 2019 at 20:46:07UTC, Antares launched the NG-11 mission to the International Space Station from Wallops Island, Virginia.[1] [9]
Total weight of cargo:, consisting of in pressurized cargo and in unpressurized cargo.[10]
Smallsats deployed during NG-11:
New hardware, known as the Thermal Amine Scrubber, the first Exploration ECLSS Tech Demonstration aboard ISS, which will be activated in April 2019 and scrub additional from the ISS atmosphere.