NG-24 is a planned cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract. Operated by Northrop Grumman, the flight is scheduled to launch no earlier than April 8, 2026, aboard a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket. The spacecraft is named the S.S. Steven R. Nagel.
Following NG-23, the mission is the second to use the Cygnus XL spacecraft configuration, featuring a pressurized cargo module measuring in length, with a payload capacity of and a pressurized cargo volume of .
It is expected to be the fourth and final Cygnus launch on a Falcon 9, arranged after Northrop Grumman's Antares 230+ was retired in 2023 due to supply chain disruptions stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Cygnus NG-25, slated for late 2026, is planned to be the first Cygnus launch with the newly-developed Antares 330 rocket.
The Cygnus cargo spacecraft was developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation with partial funding from NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. It pairs a pressurized cargo module built by Thales Alenia SpaceâÂÂderived from the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module used on the Space ShuttleâÂÂwith a service module based on Orbital's GEOStar satellite bus.
The first Standard Cygnus flew in 2013, followed by the larger Enhanced Cygnus in 2015. Orbital Sciences became Orbital ATK in 2015 and was acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2018. Since then, Northrop Grumman has continued CRS operations. NG-24 is the twelfth Cygnus mission under the CRS-2 contract.
Included on the manifest is LEOPARDSat-1, a 1U CubeSat that will test the effectiveness of thin carbon sheeting to block radiation. It was developed by CubeCats, a student organization at the University of Cincinnati.
The Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) was manufactured by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, and assembly of the service module for the NG-24 spacecraft took place at Northrop Grumman's facility in Dulles, Virginia. Thales Alenia Space shared that the PCM had left their clean room bound for the Kennedy Space Center on January 30, 2026.