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This week’s schedule has a mixture of orbital and suborbital missions launching from seven completely different websites across the globe. They embody an uncrewed New Shepard flight which can conduct experiments for NASA and others in simulated lunar gravity.
Along with launches from the Florida area coast, India and Japan are each launching navigation satellites. Rocket Lab is launching one other batch of satellites for its French buyer, Kinéis, whereas SpaceX is launching a next-generation alternative communications satellite tv for pc for Spanish operator Hisdesat.
If schedules maintain, SpaceX is about to launch 4 missions, utilizing every of its three energetic launch websites. These embody the primary expendable Falcon 9 launch for the reason that Hera mission final October.
The week additionally closes the month of January which can have seen 23 missions launched world wide in complete. If sustained, this can be a cadence that will result in a brand new annual file for launches by the tip of the yr. The month noticed the debut of Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy raise automobile, whereas the maiden launch of China’s Chang Zheng 8A provider has now slipped from this week into early February.
Booster B1082 completes SpaceX’s four-hundredth touchdown of an orbital class rocket throughout Starlink Group 11-8 mission (Credit score: SpaceX)
5 days after the second catch of a Starship booster, January additionally noticed the four-hundredth propulsive touchdown of a Falcon booster. This milestone was reached final week on the Starlink Group 11-8 mission which launched from Vandenberg House Power Base on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
Three days later, the Starlink Group 11-6 mission from the identical website additionally broke pad turnaround data by 17 hours. SLC-4E’s turnaround file is now set at 2 days, 22 hours, 21 minutes and 10 seconds. The droneship Of Course I Nonetheless Love You additionally set a fleet turnaround file, now beneath 3 days, with SpaceX’s Kiko Dontchev citing the identical statistic of two days and 22 hours for this file.
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 12-7
SpaceX began the week with its eighth Starlink mission of the yr launching from SLC-40 on the Cape Canaveral House Power Station in Florida. Liftoff happened on Monday, Jan. 27 at 5:05 PM EST (22:05 UTC), in direction of the tip of a four-hour launch window. A Falcon 9 carried 21 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into low-Earth orbit, together with 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities.
Among the many Starlink satellite tv for pc designs being launched now could be a brand new lighter optimized model of the v2 Mini, which lots round 575 kg every. The lighter design will allow extra satellites to be carried per mission. Final week’s Group 11-8 mission carried a file 27 of this newer design, whereas it’s potential that future automobiles might carry as many as 29.
Booster B1076 supported this mission on its twentieth flight – the ninth booster to have reached this milestone. It efficiently landed on the autonomous droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed downrange. This booster has been energetic since late 2022, starting with the launch of a Dragon spacecraft to the Worldwide House Station on its first flight for the CRS-26 mission. It has since lofted quite a lot of satellites together with SXM-9, OneWeb, 03b mPOWER, Intelsat 40e, Ovzon, Eutelsat 36D , Turksat 6A, Worldview Legion 3 and 4 and ten different Starlink missions.
Blue Origin’s newest booster lands throughout the New Shepard NS-27 mission in October 2024 (Credit score: Blue Origin)
This week, Blue Origin will fly the third mission of its suborbital New Shepard automobile in simply over three months. In contrast to current missions, nonetheless, there might be no crew on this flight. As a substitute, 30 payloads might be performing quite a lot of checks that can make the most of a simulated lunar gravity.
New Shepard will launch from Blue Origin’s Launch Website One in West Texas. A beneficiant 7.5-hour launch window opens at 10:00 AM CST (16:00 UTC) on Tuesday, Jan. 28. New Shepard can have launched over 175 payloads on the completion of this mission.
NASA is flying 17 applied sciences on the flight which cowl a broad vary of experiments from mud mitigation and lunar habitats to in-situ useful resource utilization. The payloads will expertise round two minutes of simulated lunar gravity generated when the capsule is put right into a spin. The onboard response management thrusters will spin the capsule at round 11 revolutions per minute, simulating the Moon’s gravity, which is round one-sixth of that on Earth.
Simulating lunar gravity permits NASA researchers to check numerous improvements that type a part of the Artemis program and can inform planetary exploration and habitation. Beforehand, lunar simulations have been restricted to round 20 seconds on parabolic flights or a fleeting few seconds in a centrifuge drop tower. Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp posted a message noting that the corporate can adapt this functionality to carefully mirror Mars and different photo voltaic system gravity environments sooner or later.
NASA’s ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx) Bucket Drum excavator (Credit score: NASA)
One experiment is connected externally to the booster, which just lately made its debut because the second energetic booster within the New Shepard fleet. The Movie Evaporation MEMS Tunable Array (FEMTA) is a micropropulsion various for small satellites developed by Purdue College. FEMTA makes use of water floor pressure to offer low energy however extremely tunable perspective management and will allow in-situ useful resource utilization for its propellant.
An extra 29 different experiments will fly internally within the capsule. Honeybee Robotics, a part of the Blue Origin household, is targeted on excavating and processing lunar regolith and has 4 payloads on board. NASA’s experiments embody the testing of dust-tolerant know-how to maneuver lunar regolith particles utilizing dynamic electrical fields and different strategies to maneuver regolith vertically in vacuum circumstances. Others will inform the creation of lunar regolith simulants and check drum know-how which may very well be used for robotic excavation on the lunar floor in decreased gravity.
Further experiments will check low-mass pneumatic strategies to liberate mud from rocks and planetary surfaces in addition to from tools corresponding to photo voltaic panels. They’ll check how the mud settles in lunar gravity and the way it departs from spacesuit cloth. Additionally making the most of the lunar gravity simulation are fluid physics experiments that can inform the thermal administration of digital methods and will enhance the administration of gases and liquids in area. Additionally onboard, the Draper Multi-Setting Navigator (DMEN) is a small, mild, and low-power resolution for offering location and wayfaring information to assist entry, descent, and correct lunar landings.
NVS-02 loading to the Complete Meeting and Take a look at Thermo-Vacuum chamber (CATVAC) for a Thermovac Take a look at (Credit score: ISRO)
GSLV Mk 11 | NVS-02 (IRNSS-1K)
The Indian House Analysis Group (ISRO) plans to launch a regional navigation satellite tv for pc atop a Geosynchronous Satellite tv for pc Launch Car (GSLV) Mark II. The launch, ISRO’s first of the yr, was initially scheduled on Sunday, Jan. 26, and has since been delayed to Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 00:53 UTC. The GSLV automobile will depart the Second Launch Pad on the Satish Dhawan House Centre in India, heading due East, as is common for geosynchronous orbits.
The payload, NVS-02 is the ninth satellite tv for pc within the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) and the second within the collection of 5 deliberate next-generation satellites that can complement the present NavIC base layer. The satellite tv for pc’s vary will lengthen for round 1,500 km past the Indian sub-continent and is each suitable and interoperable with the International Positioning System (GPS) and Galileo methods.
There are two particular payloads aboard the satellite tv for pc, independently offering ranging and navigation performance. The satellite tv for pc’s Customary Positioning Service (SPS) will present positioning accuracy higher than 20 m and a timing accuracy higher than 40 ns over the Indian landmass, which is its main service space. NVS-02 carries an especially correct atomic clock that counts the oscillations of rubidium-87 atoms to measure every second. Its predecessor was the primary Indian satellite tv for pc to fly with an indigenous atomic clock. Powered by two photo voltaic arrays, the satellite tv for pc has a projected lifespan of ten years.
Standing 51.7 m tall with a 4 m diameter fairing, the GSLV Mark II shares parts with the Polar Satellite tv for pc Launch Car (PSLV). The primary stage is a strong rocket motor, whereas the second makes use of a liquid-fueled Vikas engine. The higher stage is cryogenic, powered by a CE-7.5 engine burning liquid hydrogen and oxygen. 4 liquid-fueled L40H strap-on boosters will help the primary stage on its preliminary ascent.
Render of SpainSat NG satellites (Credit score: Hisdesat)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SPAINSAT New Generation I
A Falcon 9 will launch the primary of two telecommunications satellites to interchange the SpainSat and XTAR-EUR satellites at present in orbit. The SpainSat New Era (NG) satellites will present protection for the Spanish Armed Forces throughout two-thirds of the planet, spanning the American continent to East Asia.
The launch is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 8:34 PM EST (01:34 UTC on Jan 29), leaving pad LC-39A on the Kennedy House Heart in Florida. A four-hour launch window is accessible to loft the payload to a geostationary switch orbit. After launch the spacecraft will transfer into geostationary orbit the place it should change the XTAR-EUR satellite tv for pc.
Utilizing a method often called beam hopping, the satellite tv for pc can generate and transfer a number of X-band communication beams at excessive velocity. The European House Company (ESA) described the antennas onboard as “probably the most difficult energetic antennas to have been developed in Europe up to now” when particulars of the challenge have been introduced in the summertime of 2023.
SpaceX transport the expendable booster forward of the Spainsat mission (Credit score: NSF House Coast Stay)
The satellites are primarily based on Airbus’ dependable Eurostar Neo platform and can convey up to date communications performance in addition to a excessive stage of safety and resilience. They’ve been constructed by Airbus House and Thales Alenia along with a consortium of Spanish area firms for operator Hisdesat. With an operational lifetime of round 15 years, the satellites interconnect navy X and Ka-band visitors to permit band crossover and in addition function within the UHF band.
Hazard notices point out this mission would be the first expendable Falcon 9 launch for the reason that Hera mission final October. The booster supporting this mission has not been introduced however has been seen because it was transported. A second satellite tv for pc, SpainSat NG II, can be deliberate to launch atop a Falcon 9 later this yr and can change the present SpainSat in geostationary orbit.
A Falcon 9 on the pad at SLC-40 forward of a Starlink mission (Credit score: SpaceX)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 11-4
Assuming schedules maintain, this would be the second of three Starlink missions this week. Liftoff is anticipated on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 3:32 PM PST (23:32 UTC) from SLC-4E on the Vandenberg House Power Station in California. The mission will probably carry one other batch of no less than 27 of the brand new optimised Starlink v2 Mini satellites into low-Earth orbit. The corporate has launched over 3,000 of the v2 design Starlink satellites thus far.
At the moment, the booster has not been introduced. It’s anticipated to land on the droneship Of Course I Nonetheless Love You ready downrange within the Pacific Ocean.
Starlink customers worldwide have reached 4.6 million, spanning 118 international locations and territories. This has elevated considerably from 3 million simply seven months in the past. Firstly of this week, SpaceX had launched 7,800 Starlink satellites, of which 816 have re-entered and 6,242 have moved into their operational orbit.
The Michibiki 6 (Quasi Zenith Satellite tv for pc System 6) satellite tv for pc is revealed by Mitsubishi in late November 2024 (Credit score: Mitsubishi Electrical)
A Mitsubishi H3 rocket is scheduled to launch from pad LA-Y2 on the Tanegashima House Heart in Japan on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 08:30 UTC. Within the H3-22S configuration, the automobile has two extra aspect boosters and a shorter fairing. This configuration has flown 4 instances since its maiden launch in March 2023, conducting three profitable missions final yr.
The Quasi Zenith Satellite tv for pc 6 (QZS-6), or Michibiki 6, satellite tv for pc is a part of the Quasi Zenith Satellite tv for pc System (QZSS) which operates in geosynchronous orbits, offering navigation and positioning companies.
The satellite tv for pc lots round 4,900 kg and also will carry a categorised area situational consciousness payload for the US House Power (USSF). The constellation broadcasts GPS-interoperable and augmentation indicators in addition to unique QZSS indicators. The satellite tv for pc improves on the 5 to 10 m accuracy of the International Positioning System (GPS), claiming centimeter-level accuracy, and has a design lifetime of no less than 15 years.
Unveiled final November at Mitsubishi’s Kamakura Works, QZS-6 will be part of 4 others within the present constellation. Three of those are in a quasi-zenith orbit and the opposite is in a geostationary orbit, the place this newest satellite tv for pc can be headed. The constellation will develop to seven by 2026, when it should change into operational, with plans to develop an 11-satellite system later.
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 12-3
The third Starlink mission of the week has been rescheduled to launch from SLC-40 on the Cape Canaveral House Power Station. Liftoff is now anticipated at 3:54 AM EST (08:54 UTC) on Monday, Feb. 3 on the high of a four-hour launch window. The Falcon 9 will head southeast, carrying a batch of Starlink v2-Mini satellites to low-Earth orbit, inclined 43 levels.
Regardless of its numbering, this would be the eighth launch into this Group 12 shell of the constellation.
The booster supporting this mission has not but been confirmed. It’s anticipated to land on the deck of an autonomous droneship ready within the Atlantic Ocean round eight minutes into the flight.
Mission patch for Rocket Lab’s IoT 4 You And Me mission (Credit score: Rocket Lab)
Electron / Curie | IoT 4 You and Me
This mission is the fourth of 5 deliberate launches, every carrying 5 30 kg Web of Issues (IoT) nanosatellites for buyer Kinéis – the primary of which flew final June. A Rocket Lab Electron rocket, geared up with Curie higher stage, will carry satellites numbered 16 to twenty to a low-Earth orbit at 650 km altitude.
Liftoff is deliberate on Monday, Feb. 3 at 20:43 UTC from pad LC-1 at Rocket Lab’s launch website on the Māhia Peninsula. That is an instantaneous launch window with extra alternatives on the identical time over a number of days. Rocket Lab launched a file 16 missions final yr, which it plans to exceed in 2025. Kinéis is backed by the French authorities’s area company Centre Nationwide d’Études Spatiales (CNES) and worldwide area options supplier Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS), to enhance its world IoT connectivity.
Rocket Lab additionally introduced a short-notice contract final week which it has signed with Ororatech for Electron to launch a wildfire detection mission within the coming weeks.
(Lead picture: SpaceX launch of two lunar landers to the Moon on the identical mission, on Jan. 15, 2025 – Credit score: SpaceX)
