NASA announced the cancellation of the NG-22 mission to supply the ISS. The reason was damage to the spacecraft during transportation to Cape Canaveral.
The NG-22 mission was scheduled for June. Within its framework, the Cygnus spacecraft was to deliver to the ISS more than 3.5 tons of food, water, equipment for experiments and other cargo. However, during its transportation to Cape Canaveral, an emergency occurred. On March 5, NASA announced the damage to the container in which Cygnus was being transported. It is not reported what exactly caused the incident.
After that, the organization initiated an inspection of the technical condition of the spacecraft. On March 26, NASA admitted that Cygnus was also damaged. They are too significant for the spacecraft to be launched into space — at least in the near future. The next Cygnus will go to the ISS no earlier than September 2025.
As a result, NASA had to decide to change the cargo manifest of the Dragon spacecraft, which would be launched to the ISS in April. It will take more food and supplies to make sure there are enough supplies aboard the station.
NASA is also considering alternatives. One of them is the use of Starliner for a cargo mission. After propulsion problems experienced during the spacecraft’s first manned flight last year, NASA is still evaluating whether it can be certified or whether it would be better to conduct a new test flight without a crew. In the latter case, the spacecraft could, in theory, be used to deliver cargo to the ISS. However, Starliner will compete with SpaceX spacecraft for docking ports, and flight times will be limited. And it is unknown whether Boeing would agree in principle to such a mission.
Sierra Nevada’s new Dream Chaser cargo spacecraft is also in development. Its launch is formally scheduled for May, but the latest reports indicate that it is still not ready for launch, and in the best-case scenario, it will fly at the end of the year.
All of this means that NASA will also have to rely more on SpaceX. While it previously provided the only transportation for astronauts, now that Cygnus will be suspended for at least six months, all non-Russian cargo spacecraft heading to the ISS will also be built by SpaceX.
According to Arstechnica
