This Week in Rocket Launches will be quieter than last week. It includes a Starlink mission from SpaceX and the launch of an unknown payload from China. The recap section is massive this week, so be sure to have a look.
Monday, 19 August
- Who: SpaceX
- What: Falcon 9
- When: 09:43 - 13:43 UTC
- Where: Florida, US
- Why: SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 carrying 23 Starlink satellites to a low Earth orbit. This batch is known as Starlink Group 10-5. You can use this identifier on apps like ISS Detector to try and find these exact ones once they're in space. The first stage of the Falcon 9 will do a landing ready for reuse.
Wednesday, 21 August
- Who: CNSA
- What: Long March 7A
- When: 10:30 UTC
- Where: Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, China
- Why: Like many Chinese missions, which are military-led, it's not clear what payload will be launched on this mission.
Recap
- The first launch we got last week was from Rocket Lab. The company launched one of its Electron rockets on a mission called "A Sky Full of SARs," which put Capella Space's Acadia-3 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite into orbit. It took off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand.
- On Monday, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Space Norway Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM). The mission consists of two satellites that operate in a highly elliptical orbit to deliver broadband coverage in the Arctic region for the US Space Force and Space Norway.
- Also on Monday, SpaceX launched 23 Starlink satellites from Florida atop a Falcon 9. For those that don't know, these satellites provide broadband service back on Earth. The first stage of the rocket performed a sea landing.
- Next up, on Thursday, Russia launched the Soyuz-2.1a from Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was carrying the Progress MS-28 spacecraft on a resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Progress MS-28 was carrying nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 71 crew on the ISS.
- On the same day, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 to launch the third and fourth of six planned WorldView Legion satellites as part of the Maxar 2 mission. It took off from Florida, and the first stage performed a landing so that it could be reused.
- On Friday, India launched the SSLV-D3 carrying the EOS-08 and SR-0 DEMOSAT satellites. It took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
- On the same day, China launched a Long March 4B carrying a group of Yaogan-43 remote sensing satellites from Sichuan Province. The satellites will be used for testing new technologies.
- Finally, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 as part of the Transporter 11 mission, which carried 116 SmallSat payloads on a rideshare mission. It took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, and the first stage of the rocket landed and was ready for reuse.
That's all for this week; check back next time.
