We have a fairly unvaried week coming up in rocket launches. On Sunday we have a Starlink mission then again on Wednesday, there’s another Starlink mission! If you want to see something out of the ordinary, head to the bottom of the recap section and watch India’s successful launch of its lunar mission Chandrayaan-3.
Sunday, 16 July
The first Starlink mission this week will see SpaceX launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 54 Gen2 Starlink satellites into a low Earth orbit. The mission is scheduled to take off from Space Launch Complex 40 which is in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 3:50 a.m. UTC.
If you use any websites or apps that allow you to find details on Starlink satellites as they fly overhead, this group is designated as Starlink Group 5-15. Amazingly, this is also the 16th flight of the first stage booster - it was used in the Transporter-2 and Transporter-6 missions previously, among others.
As always, you can tune into the launch from SpaceX’s website where presenters will explain what’s going on throughout the launch process.
Wednesday, 19 July
The second Starlink mission will be heading up to space at 2:29 a.m. from Vandenberg AFB in California. This time it will be carrying 22 Starlink Mini satellites to a low Earth orbit.
This batch of satellites will be called Starlink Group 6-15 if you want to try and spot them in the sky when they’re in orbit. This mission will also stream on SpaceX’s website, but the page isn’t available yet so check in closer to launch.
Recap
The first launch last week was a Long March 2C carrying an internet technology test satellite from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China. It took off at 11:00 a.m. UTC and entered its planned orbit.
Next up, SpaceX launched 22 Starlink satellites using a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral.
A few days later we were back at Jiuquan Space Launch Centre as the private Chinese company Landspace successfully launched its ZhuQue-2 rocket.
Finally, India successfully launched its LVM3 rocket carrying the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission. It took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
That’s all for this week, check back next time!
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