NASA, Northrop Grumman delay resupply spacecraft's arrival at International Space Station due to technical issue

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- NASA and American aerospace technology company Northrop Grumman delayed the arrival of a resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) due to a technical issue with the main engine, the space agency said Tuesday.

The company's upgraded Cygnus XL spacecraft was originally scheduled to arrive at the ISS at 6:35 a.m. Eastern Time (1035 GMT) on Wednesday. However, NASA said the spacecraft's main engine shut down earlier than planned early Tuesday morning during two burns designed to raise its orbit for rendezvous with the space station.

As a result, the arrival has been postponed, with a new arrival date and time currently under review. Flight controllers are now evaluating an alternate burn plan to complete the orbital adjustments.

NASA said that all other systems of the spacecraft are operating normally.

The spacecraft lifted off at 6:11 p.m. Eastern Time (2211 GMT) on Sunday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the U.S. state of Florida.

The mission, which is the company's 23rd contracted resupply mission for NASA, is designated to deliver about 11,000 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory. Enditem