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SpaceX dominates this week’s launch manifest with as much as 4 missions aboard Falcon 9 autos, certainly one of which would be the first expendable mission for the rocket since January, and one other carrying 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites for the second time.
There is just one worldwide mission scheduled on the time of publishing – a Chang Zheng 5 will loft an unknown payload midweek from China. The maiden launch of Japan’s HTV-X cargo provide automobile was delayed from a deliberate launch at first of the week. Persistent unhealthy climate anticipated all through this week on the Tanegashima House Middle has pushed this launch to, at the least, the upcoming weekend.
SpaceX reached extra milestones final weekend, when booster fleet chief B1067 grew to become the primary Falcon 9 booster to fly for the thirty first time when it supported Sunday’s Starlink Group 10-17 mission from Florida. This similar mission additionally launched the ten,000th Starlink satellite tv for pc into orbit.
Falcon 9 launches Starlink Group 11-5 from SLC-4 on the Vandenberg House Power Base in California (Credit score: SpaceX)
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 11-5
The primary scheduled Falcon 9 mission of the week launched from House Launch Advanced 4 East (SLC-4E) on the Vandenberg House Power Base in California on Wednesday, Oct. 22. Liftoff came about close to the beginning of the standard four-hour launch window at 7:16 AM PDT (14:16 UTC).
Onboard was a batch of 28 Starlink v2-Mini satellites headed southeast to hitch the Group 11 shell of the megaconstellation in low-Earth orbit (LEO) at 535 km altitude.
Booster B1075 made its twenty first flight for this mission and has been in service since its debut in January 2023. In that point, it has launched 17 different Starlink missions along with the Transporter 11 rideshare mission, SARah 2 & 3, and the Tranche 0A mission. The booster landed efficiently on the deck of the autonomous droneship Of Course I Nonetheless Love You, which was stationed within the Pacific Ocean, a little bit over eight minutes into the mission.
Firstly of this week, SpaceX had launched 10,044 Starlink satellites, of which 1,364 have re-entered and seven,455 have reached their operational orbits.
Falcon 9 | SPAINSAT New Technology II
The primary Falcon 9 launch of the week from the Cape Canaveral House Power Station (CCSFS) in Florida will launch from House Launch Advanced 40 (SLC-40) on Wednesday, Oct. 22. Liftoff is scheduled for the highest of an virtually four-hour window, at 9:30 PM EDT (01:30 UTC on Oct. 23).
Onboard would be the second of two SPAINSAT NG (“New Technology”) satellites, which substitute the present SpainSat and XTAR-EUR communications satellites in geostationary orbit. This second-generation constellation is operator Hisdesat’s largest challenge but, incorporating fashionable technical advances in communications, including improved resilience and safety. Manufactured by Airbus, the satellites have a roughly 15-year lifespan and enhance their predecessors’ X and Ka navy band capability by 16 instances, including additional capability within the UHF band.
This mission can be supported by booster B1076, on its twenty second and closing flight because of the mission needing the complete efficiency of the primary stage to succeed in its geosynchronous switch orbit. Expending a Falcon 9 booster is uncommon for SpaceX, which landed its five hundredth booster for restoration and reuse final week on the Starlink Group 10-52 mission.
This booster will, due to this fact, fly with out the distinctive touchdown legs and grid fins that are often required for the automobile’s descent and touchdown. The final expendable mission for SpaceX was for the primary SPAINSAT NG mission in late January this 12 months.
Booster B1076 made its debut with the CRS-26 cargo resupply mission to the Worldwide House Station (ISS) in November 2022. It went on to launch satellites for the OneWeb, 03b mPOWER, Starlink, and IntelSat constellations along with lofting Ovzon 3, Eutelsat 36D, SXM-9, Turksat 6A, and a pair of WorldView Legion earth commentary satellites over its practically three-year service.
A Chang Zheng 5 is ready for the Chang’e 6 mission (Credit score: CGTN)
Chang Zheng 5 | Unknown Payload
A Chang Zheng 5 has been rolled to the pad at Launch Advanced 101 on the Wenchang House Launch Middle on Hainan Island in China. A launch is presently anticipated on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 10:30 PM CST (14:30 UTC). There may be presently no affirmation as to nature of the payload onboard, which may very well be one other within the Tongxin Jishi Shiyan (TJSW) collection of categorised communication satellites.
This would be the first launch of a Chang Zheng 5 (CZ-5) automobile since Might 2024 when it lofted the Chang’e 6 lunar soil pattern return mission. That is China’s strongest rocket and has change into the heavy-lift workhorse for main house missions together with the Tianwen-1 Mars mission and two Chang’e lunar landers, whereas its CZ-5B variant has lofted every of the modules for the Tiangong house station and, extra lately, batches of Guowang (“nationwide community”) satellites for operator SatNet’s web megaconstellation.
The core stage is powered by two YF-77 engines burning liquid hydrogen and oxygen, augmented by 4 strap-on boosters, every utilizing a pair of YF-100 engines burning kerosene and liquid oxygen. The higher stage is provided with two YF-75D vacuum engines, additionally operating on hydrogen and oxygen.
Falcon 9 higher stage is mirrored in Starlink satellites as they’re deployed (Credit score: SpaceX)
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 11-12
The second mission to launch from the Vandenberg House Power Base this week would be the nineteenth for the Group 11 shell, all of which have launched from pad SLC-4E. These missions for the Starlink constellation have launched extra notably out of sequence than for different shells, with latest launches together with the Group 11-39 mission earlier this month.
Liftoff is predicted at first of the four-hour launch window, which opens at 7:00 AM PDT (14:00 UTC) on Saturday, Oct. 25. The automobile will fly southeast, carrying a batch of 28 Starlink v2-Mini satellites to LEO.
Booster B1081 can be making its nineteenth flight, and was launched into service in August 2023 when it carried Crew-7 to the ISS. This booster supported one other journey to the orbiting outpost on its second flight, carrying the CRS-29 cargo resupply mission. Since then, its manifest has included two Transporter missions, EarthCARE for the European and Japanese house companies, and NASA’s PACE and TRACERS missions, amongst different flights for the Starlink constellation. It’s anticipated to land on the deck of the autonomous droneship Of Course I Nonetheless Love You, which can be stationed downrange within the Pacific Ocean.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-21
The second Falcon 9 mission to launch from SLC-40 in Florida this week will carry 29 Starlink v2-Mini satellites for the megaconstellation’s Group 10 shell. That is pushing the restrict of satellites carried aboard a single flight even additional, which have lately been capped at 28, with solely the Starlink Group 6-84 mission again in Might carrying this many.
Liftoff is scheduled at first of the four-hour launch window, which opens on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 10:27 AM EDT (14:27 UTC). Booster B1077 can be making its twenty fourth flight and is predicted to land on the deck of the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange within the Atlantic Ocean, northeast of the Cape.
This booster was first launched into service simply over three years in the past in early October 2022, when it carried Crew-5 to the ISS. This booster additionally supported the CRS-28 and NG-20 cargo resupply missions to the Station, along with missions for Inmarsat, Starlink, GPS III, Intelsat’s Galaxy 37, and quite a few Starlink launches.
Starlink satellites are launched throughout Starlink Group 15-5 mission (Credit score: SpaceX)
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 11-21
An extra Starlink mission is scheduled to launch from SLC-4E on the Vandenberg House Power Base on Monday, Oct. 27. One other batch of 28 Starlink v2-Mini satellites can be onboard. Liftoff is predicted on the high of a four-hour launch window, which opens at 2:12 PM PDT (21:12 UTC).
Booster B1082 can be taking its seventeenth flight and is predicted to land on the droneship Of Course I Nonetheless Love You roughly eight minutes into the mission within the Pacific Ocean. The booster has been in service since early January 2024 and has predominantly launched Starlink missions, together with the OneWeb 20, USSF-62, and NROL-145 missions.
(Lead picture: Launch first timers watch the Kuiper KF-03 mission from SLC-40 final week – Credit score: Julia Bergeron for NSF)
