SpaceX, on January 30, successfully launched Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time. The spacecraft lifted off on the Falcon 9 rocket at 10:37 pm IST from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and was sent toward the ISS about 22 minutes later.

Liftoff of Falcon 9 and Cygnus! pic.twitter.com/VgZq7N6jtm

— SpaceX (@SpaceX)

About nine minutes after lift-off, the first stage Booster of Falcon 9 returned to Landing Zone 1 for a touchdown. SpaceX has now shared a thrilling video of the Booster returning to the launch pad after completing the company's 10th launch and landing in 2024.

Falcon 9's first stage returned to Earth and landed at Landing Zone 1, completing our 10th launch and landing of the year pic.twitter.com/MoqpgEt2hg

— SpaceX (@SpaceX)

The latest launch marked the 10th flight of this booster as it has previously supported NASA's Crew-5, GPS III Space Vehicle 06, Inmarsat I6-F2, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37 and four Starlink missions. 

SpaceX also shared a video of the Cygnus spacecraft as drifted away from the second stage of the Falcon 9 before heading toward the space station. 
 

As for the mission, it was launched under NASA's commercial resupply services contract under which science experiments and edibles are transported to astronauts in space on a regular basis. As of now, only SpaceX and Northrop Grumman own NASA contracts for the job. 

Designated NG-20, the mission saw Cygnus launch with more than 3,700 kg of cargo including equipment to carry out experiments like surgery using a robot, a 3D cartilage cell culture, an autonomous semiconductor manufacturing platform and a metal 3D printed to 3D print small metal parts.