We have a busy week coming up for rocket launches. The thing that stands out this week is the number of satellites SpaceX will be orbiting for other entities, including SES, the NRO, and Astranis.
Sunday, 15 December
- Who: SpaceX
- What: Falcon 9
- When: 20:58 - 22:58 UTC
- Where: Florida, US
- Why: SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying two O3b mPOWER broadband internet satellites to a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) for SES, a Luxembourgish company. As this is a Falcon 9 rocket, the first stage will likely attempt a landing so that it can be reused.
Monday, 16 December
- Who: SpaceX
- What: Falcon 9
- When: 09:33 UTC
- Where: California, US
- Why: SpaceX will use a Falcon 9 to launch the National Reconnaissance Office"s classified NROL-149 mission. It"s believed that SpaceX will launch a few NRO imaging satellites that will make up part of the Proliferated Architecture constellation. Some Starlink satellites are also expected to be aboard.
Tuesday, 17 December
- Who: Rocket Lab
- What: Electron
- When: 14:00 UTC
- Where: Mahia, New Zealand
- Why: In this mission, Rocket Lab will use an Electron rocket to launch the sixth StriX satellite for Synspective. This satellite is a synthetic aperture radar satellite (SAR) and will be part of a 25-satellite constellation. This constellation will be able to take ground images with a one to three-meter resolution with a swath width of ten to thirty kilometers.
Wednesday, 18 December
- Who: SpaceX
- What: Falcon 9
- When: 03:38 UTC
- Where: Florida, US
- Why: SpaceX will launch four MicroGEO satellites for Astranis. Each satellite carries unique names, including UtilitySat, NuView A, NuView B, and Agila.
Saturday, 21 December
- Who: SpaceX
- What: Falcon 9
- When: 01:26 UTC
- Where: Florida, US
- Why: SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 carrying the Thuraya 4-NGS comms satellite. The satellite will be placed in a geosynchronous orbit. It was built by Airbus Defense and Space for Yahsat, based in the UAE.
Recap
The first launch we got last week was a SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying 23 Starlink satellites to orbit. They are designated Starlink Group 12-5. The first stage of the Falcon 9 landed successfully.
Next up, China used a Long March 2D to launch the High-speed Laser Diamond Constellation Test System mission consisting of five satellites that reached their intended orbits.
Finally, SpaceX launched Starlink Group 11-2, consisting of 22 satellites. The first stage of the rocket also performed a successful landing.
That"s it for this week; check back next time!