This week’s launch manifest consists of six orbital launches worldwide, together with the primary Pegasus XL launch since 2021. SpaceX dominates the schedule with three Starlink missions, the Starfall demonstration mission, and the SXM-11 mission — all of that are to fly on Falcon 9. Internationally, a Chang Zheng 7A launched an unspecified payload on Tuesday.
Chang Zheng 7A | Unknown Payload
The primary launch of the week was China’s Chang Zheng 7A (CZ-7A), which launched from Launch Advanced 201 (LC-201) on the Wenchang Area Launch Web site in China on Tuesday, June 23. The rocket launched on the prime of the 50-minute launch window, which started at 02:10 UTC, with the rocket lofting a categorized TJSW-26A satellite tv for pc on an easterly trajectory to a geostationary switch orbit (GTO).
The CZ-7A is a three-stage expendable automobile developed by the China Aerospace Science and Know-how Company (CASC). The 60.13-m tall rocket’s first two phases are fueled by liquid kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen (LOX), whereas the third stage is powered by two YF-75 engines fueled by liquid hydrogen (LH2) and LOX. The primary stage employs two YF-100 engines, and the second stage makes use of 4 YF-115 engines. The automobile has a complete thrust at liftoff of seven,128 kN and might carry as much as 12,000 kg to low-Earth orbit (LEO).
The launch was Chang Zheng 7A’s sixteenth launch total and its second mission of 2026.
Chang Zheng 7A rolls out. (Credit score:CASC)
On Tuesday, June 23, SpaceX launched its first Falcon 9 mission of the week from Area Launch Advanced-40 (SLC-40) on the Cape Canaveral Area Drive Station (CCSFS) in Florida. The one-hour window started at 06:43 AM EDT (10:43 UTC), with the rocket launching on the prime of the window on a southeasterly trajectory inclined at 56.1 levels. Falcon 9 booster B1078 was on its twenty ninth flight. The booster landed on the corporate’s autonomous droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG) downrange within the Atlantic.
The Starfall Demo reentry automobile will take a look at the autonomous return of buyer payloads from Earth’s orbit, a significant functionality for in-space analysis and manufacturing. The automobile is disc-shaped, 3.1 m in diameter, and 0.75 m in peak. The spacecraft can carry as much as 1,000 kg of payload into orbit and has a prime plate with maneuvering thrusters and a jettisonable warmth protect. After a coast of round 1.5 orbits, the automobile reentered Earth’s environment earlier than SpaceX recovered it within the Pacific Ocean.
Whereas this demonstration will launch on a Falcon 9, SpaceX’s Starship is prone to fly the long run Starfall automobiles. Related reentry automobiles embrace Varda Area’s Winnebago, which has flown on SpaceX’s Transporter missions.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-45
The third mission of the week is a Falcon 9 launch from Area Launch Advanced 4 East (SLC-4E) on the Vandenberg Area Drive Base in California on Wednesday, June 24. The 2-hour launch window begins at 7:48 PM PDT (02:48 UTC). Falcon 9 will launch on a southerly trajectory to a Solar-synchronous orbit (SSO) with a 97-degree inclination, the place it would deploy 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites.
The booster for the mission, B1081, might be on its twenty fifth flight, beforehand supporting the Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter 10, EarthCARE, NROL-186, Transporter 13, TRACERS, NROL-48, CSG-3, and 14 Starlink missions. SpaceX will land the booster downrange within the Pacific utilizing its droneship Of Course I Nonetheless Love You.
Falcon 9, the primary orbital-class automobile to be recovered and reused, has two phases. The primary stage is 41.2 m in peak and is powered by 9 Merlin 1D engines, which use RP-1 and LOX as propellants. Falcon 9’s second stage has a single Merlin 1D vacuum-optimized engine that additionally makes use of RP-1 and LOX as propellants.
The mission might be SpaceX’s 76th mission of the yr and 686th total.
Starlink satellites earlier than deployment in orbit. (Credit score: SpaceX)
Pegasus XL | Swift Boost Mission
Flying on its first mission since 2021, the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar Stargazer will carry a Pegasus XL rocket to air-launch the Swift Increase Mission for NASA. Stargazer is anticipated to take off on a southeasterly trajectory from the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Take a look at Web site within the Marshall Islands on Saturday, 27 June, with the 5.5-hour launch window starting at 09:00 UTC.
Pegasus XL is a four-stage automobile initially developed by Orbital Sciences Company and now operated by Northrop Grumman. The automobile’s first three phases use Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) and aluminum as gas, whereas the elective fourth stage makes use of hydrazine (N2H4) as its propellant.
The robotic servicing spacecraft for the Swift Increase Mission was developed by Katalyst to rendezvous with and seize NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The spacecraft was launched in 2004; nonetheless, attributable to atmospheric drag, it’s now in a decaying orbit and can reenter except it’s boosted. To this finish, NASA contracted Katalyst to develop and construct a spacecraft able to capturing and elevating the observatory’s altitude over a number of months, thereby prolonging its operational life.
Pegasus XL is launched from Stargazer on a earlier mission. (Credit score: NASA)
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-40
A SpaceX Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch a batch of Starlink v2 Mini satellites from SLC-4E on the Vandenberg Area Drive Base in California on Sunday, June 28. The automobile is anticipated to launch throughout a four-hour window starting at 7:00 AM PDT (14:00 UTC).
SpaceX’s droneship Of Course I Nonetheless Love You will function the touchdown location for the mission’s booster, B1088, downrange within the Pacific Ocean. The booster might be flying on its seventeenth mission, having beforehand supported 13 Starlink missions, Transporter 12, SPHEREx & PUNCH, NROL-126, and NROL-57.
The ultimate mission of the week will see yet one more Falcon 9 launch from SLC-40 in Florida with the SXM-11 satellite tv for pc. Liftoff is scheduled for Sunday, June 28, at 10:25 PM EDT (02:25 UTC on June 29) throughout a three-hour and 56-minute launch window. Falcon 9 will observe a due-east trajectory from Florida, deploying the satellite tv for pc to GTO.
Falcon booster B1085 will help this mission, flying for the seventeenth time. Following stage separation, the booster will land on A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange within the Atlantic. B1085 has beforehand supported the Crew-9, GPS III SV07, Blue Ghost Mission 1, Fram2, SXM-10, MTG-S1/Sentinel-4A, Echostar XXV, and 9 Starlink missions.
Manufactured by Lanteris Area Techniques and operated by SiriusXM, SXM-11 is the twelfth SXM satellite tv for pc for SiriusXM. The 7,000 kg high-powered, digital, audio radio satellite tv for pc relies on the IM-1300-class platform and encompasses a 10 m unfurlable mesh reflector. The reflector will permit SiriusXM programming to succeed in buyer radios.
This mission marks the 659th total Falcon 9 mission, the 76th of 2026, and the 154th orbital launch try worldwide in 2026.
(Lead Picture: Falcon 9 launches from Florida. Credit score: Julia Bergeron for NASASpaceflight)
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