After final week’s aborted Starship Flight 13 launch, SpaceX is scheduling a brand new try as early as Thursday, July 23, from Starbase in Texas. Moreover Flight 13, the corporate has two Starlink launches from California scheduled, together with a uncommon expendable Falcon 9 launch from Florida.
China is planning for 4 launches this week, together with Orienspace’s Gravity-1 from a floating launch platform within the Yellow Sea and CAS House’s Kinetica 1 from Jiuquan. A Chang Zheng 3B/E can also be flying, with a launch scheduled from Xichang in southwest China.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-39
SpaceX’s first deliberate launch of the week was scheduled for Monday, July 20, from House Launch Complicated 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg House Power Base (VSFB). Starlink Group 17-39 was anticipated to launch at 7:49 AM PDT (14:49 UTC) close to the beginning of a four-hour window lasting till 11:00 AM PDT (18:00 UTC).
Nevertheless, the try was aborted at T0 after the 9 engines of the primary stage briefly fired. The following launch try is scheduled for Tuesday, July 21, at 7:00 AM PDT (14:00 UTC).
Standing down from as we speak’s Starlink launch; automobile and payload stay secure
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 20, 2026
Flying on its twenty third mission, booster B1082 will take a southward trajectory appropriate for satellites in a Solar-synchronous orbit (SSO). The mission will carry 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to house, whereas the booster will land on the Of Course I Nonetheless Love You droneship within the Pacific.
The booster began its profession with the Starlink Group 7-9 mission and has additionally taken half in 18 different Starlink flights together with the USSF-62, OneWeb #20, and NROL-145 missions, all from VSFB. Starlink Group 17-39 is to be the eighty fifth Falcon 9 launch of 2026.
SpaceX’s subsequent launch is a comparatively uncommon non-Starlink mission for Falcon 9. The MRV-1 mission, a launch for Northrop Grumman, is scheduled to fly on Tuesday, July 21, at 5:15 PM EDT (21:15 UTC) from House Launch Complicated 40 (SLC-40) on the Cape Canaveral House Power Station in Florida. The launch window ends at 9:04 PM EDT (02:04 UTC on July 22).
B1069, flying for the thirty second time, will fly eastward to position the three,000 kg Mission Robotic Automobile-1 (MRV-1) spacecraft right into a geostationary switch orbit earlier than being expended. The veteran booster started with the CRS-24 mission and has additionally flown Hotbird 13F, OneWeb #15, SES-18 & 19, and 27 Starlink missions, all from Florida.
The MRV-1, operated by Northrop Grumman’s SpaceLogistics firm, is flying with three Mission Extension Pods (MEP) massing 400 kg every. These three MEP items are contracted to rendezvous with satellites from Intelsat and Optus; every MEP will prolong the lives of its goal satellite tv for pc by as much as six years.
Satellite tv for pc servicing will not be a brand new concept; as early as 1984, the House Shuttle serviced the Photo voltaic Max spacecraft to increase its mission by a number of years. The MRV-1 is designed to connect as much as 30 MEP items to satellites needing servicing throughout its lifetime in orbit.
This flight is to be the 86th Falcon 9 of 2026 and the final flight of B1069, which began flying in December 2021.
Gravity-1 launches from an offshore location in Haiyang on October 11, 2026. (Credit score: Orienspace)
Gravity 1 Y4 | Unknown Payload
The Chinese language business firm Orienspace is planning to launch its Gravity 1 medium-lift automobile on Wednesday, July 22, at 02:50 UTC. The mission will fly from the Dong Fang Hold Tian Gang launch platform within the Yellow Sea at Launch Location 5 close to Haiyang, and the window closes at 03:09 UTC.
The rocket will take a southerly trajectory appropriate for payloads that want an SSO. Although the payload id will not be presently recognized, many Earth statement, navy reconnaissance, and scientific satellites use SSOs that cowl your complete planet’s floor. Six Dongpo Earth statement satellites are considered onboard this mission.
Gravity 1, also called Yinli-1, is the world’s strongest all-solid-fueled launcher and is able to carrying as much as 4,200 kg to a 500 km altitude SSO. This flight is Gravity 1’s third launch general and the primary of 2026 for each the rocket and Orienspace.
CZ-3B/E on the pad. (Credit score: CASC)
Chang Zheng 3B/E | Unknown Payload
The primary Chang Zheng household launch of the week is scheduled for Thursday, July 23, at 12:00 UTC from Launch Complicated 2 (LC-2) on the Xichang Satellite tv for pc Launch Heart in southwest China. The Chang Zheng 3B/E’s (CZ-3B/E) launch window closes at 12:54 UTC, and the payload is presently not recognized.
The rocket will take an eastward trajectory appropriate for payloads that want to succeed in geosynchronous switch orbit (GTO), and this specific CZ-3B variant can launch as much as 5,550 kg to GTO. The CZ-3B/E has flown a variety of communication satellites to GTO, beginning with the Nigerian NigComSat-1in 2007.
This flight would be the third mission of the 12 months for the rocket kind and the second flight for the reason that failed Shijian 32 launch on Jan. 16.
Flight 13 throughout its abort on Thursday, July 16, 2026. (Credit score: Ceaser G for NSF)
After Thursday’s abort and subsequent rollback of Booster 20 and Ship 40 to the manufacturing web site, Flight 13 is now scheduled to launch no sooner than Thursday, July 23, at 5:45 PM CDT (22:45 UTC) from Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. The launch window lasts till 7:15 PM CDT (00:15 UTC on July 21), although Starship must launch inside quarter-hour of its T0 as soon as propellant loading begins.
Flight 13 is ready to be the second flight of the present model of Starship. The Block 3 model of Starship makes use of Raptor 3 engines, a very reworked methane-fueled Raptor that has been in improvement for a decade, and this model of Starship is predicted to change into the primary utilized in operational flights.
The primary launch try ended after 4 of the Tremendous Heavy booster’s 33 engines didn’t ignite. Elon Musk introduced on X that two of the engines had been to get replaced earlier than the subsequent try.
As soon as Flight 13 will get off the bottom, its aims can be just like Flight 12. Booster 20 will try a 33-engine boostback burn following stage separation, and can conduct a gentle water touchdown off the Texas coast. Ship 40 will carry 20 full Starlink v3 satellites and conduct a take a look at deployment, together with an engine restart in house.
The ship will comply with a suborbital trajectory at simply in need of orbital velocity, just like all prior Starship missions, and the take a look at Starlink satellites will expend within the environment in an identical trajectory. Ship 40 will conduct a reentry and gentle splashdown within the Indian Ocean.
If this flight succeeds with all its aims, it would pave the best way for a doable orbital try and booster catch on Flight 14. As a Starship-based lander is one in all two Human Touchdown System ships deliberate to conduct human lunar landings, each Starship launch is essential to NASA’s Artemis program progress.
Lijian-1 Y6 (Kinetica-1) is transported to the pad.(Credit score: CAS House)
Kinetica 1 Y15 | Unknown Payload
CAS House is planning to fly its Kinetica 1 small satellite tv for pc launcher on Thursday, July 23, at 23:30 UTC from Web site 130 on the Jiuquan Satellite tv for pc Launch Heart within the Internal Mongolia area of northwest China. The launch window closes at 23:50 UTC.
The rocket will take a southbound trajectory appropriate for satellites that use SSOs. The payload will not be presently recognized, however the four-stage solid-fueled Kinetica 1 is able to carrying as much as 1,500 kg to such an orbit. 5 satellites are considered on board the flight.
This flight is the fourth launch of 2026 for the Kinetica 1, also called Lijian-1, and the fifteenth launch of the rocket general.
A view of a stack of Starlink satellites together with a Starlink Direct To Cell satellite tv for pc on the high. The deployable antenna and its hinge can clearly be seen on this picture. (Credit score: SpaceX)
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-51
The ultimate launch of the week can also be scheduled for Saturday, July 25, at 7:00 AM PDT (14:00 UTC) from SLC-4E at VSFB. The launch window lasts till 11:00 AM PDT (18:00 UTC).
Booster B1100, flying its eighth mission, will take a southerly trajectory and get better on Of Course I Nonetheless Love You within the Pacific. The mission will launch 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to an SSO typical for Group 17 flights.
The booster began its profession with the Starlink Group 11-30 mission, and has additionally flown 5 different Starlink launches along with NROL-105. All of B1100’s flights up to now have been from California. The launch would be the 87th Falcon 9 launch of 2026, and the 176th orbital launch try worldwide in 2026.
(Lead picture: Falcon 9 launches from Florida. Credit score: Julia Bergeron for NSF)
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