Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL departs the ISS after nearly 6 months at the station

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft departed the International Space Station on October 9, 2026, after nearly six months at the orbiting laboratory. Ground controllers commanded the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach it from the Unity module’s Earth-facing port and release it at 12:44 p.m. EDT, while the station flew about 260 miles above the Pacific Ocean. Cygnus XL arrived in April with about 11,000 pounds of supplies, science investigations, and other cargo for NASA and its partners, and it left loaded with several thousand pounds of disposal items. Mission controllers will command it to deorbit on October 12, when it will burn up harmlessly in Earth’s atmosphere. Video Credit: NASA