A new extra-large spacecraft loaded with garbage prepares to meet its fiery demise in Earth’s atmosphere in this shot from the International Space Station.
What is it?
In this screenshot from one of the live cameras aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the new Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL freighter is being jettisoned away from the station.
Cygnus XL arrived at the ISS on Sept. 18, 2025, carrying around 11,000 pounds (4,990 kilograms) of supplies to the astronauts aboard the station, making it the largest-ever cargo spacecraft to arrive at the orbital laboratory.
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After docking at the station for seven months, Cygnus XL was released from its berth on the Earth-facing port of the ISS’s Unity module on Thursday (March 12) while over the south Atlantic Ocean. It will now deorbit into Earth’s atmosphere and burn up, carrying thousands of pounds of garbage produced on the ISS, according to NASA.
Why is it amazing?
Images like this one are a reminder of the mind-boggling technological achievement that is the International Space Station.
The ISS measures around 356 feet (109 meters) end-to-end and weighs close 925,000 pounds (420 metric tons) and orbits Earth at a speed of 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h), or about 4.8 miles per second (7.7 km/s) — all while 260 miles (420 km) above the surface of Earth.
Even at such an altitude and orbital velocity, cargo spacecraft like Cygnus XL — not to mention crewed spacecraft like SpaceX’s Crew Dragon — routinely launch from the surface and dock with the orbital laboratory.
The ISS is currently scheduled to be deorbited into a spacecraft graveyard in the Pacific Ocean around 2030, although some U.S. lawmakers would like to see its operations extended to 2032 while commercial replacements are still being developed.
