Get ready for a rocket launch bonanza on a single day this week - TWIRL #199

The TWIRL logo in front of a Falcon 9

The launch schedule for next week is not too busy. At the time of writing, all three of the upcoming missions are going to take place on Monday or in the early hours of Tuesday (UTC). We will have two missions from SpaceX and one mission from Rocket Lab.

Monday, 3 February

Who: SpaceX
What: Falcon 9
When: 08:54 - 12:54 UTC
Where: Florida, US
Why: In this mission, SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink satellites into a low Earth orbit. Among the satellites will be 13 direct-to-cell satellites that can provide internet to supported mobile devices. Following the launch, the first stage of the rocket will perform a landing so that it can be reused.

Who: Rocket Lab
What: Electron
When: 20:43 UTC
Where: Mahia, New Zealand
Why: Rocket Lab will use its Electron rocket to launch five Kinéis satellites into orbit. These satellites will make up a constellation of 25 satellites that will provide Internet of Things communications. This mission was delayed from late 2024.

Who: SpaceX
What: Falcon 9
When: 23:32 - 00:32 UTC
Where: Florida, US
Why: In this mission, SpaceX will use a Falcon 9 to launch the third pair of WorldView Legion Earth observation satellites for Maxar Technologies. The satellites will be used for various applications, including defense, intelligence, environmental monitoring, and urban planning.

Recap

The first launch we got last week was a SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying Starlink Group 12-7 to a low Earth orbit. The first stage of the rocket landed on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Next, India launched the GSLV-F15 rocket carrying the NVS-02 navigation satellite into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The satellite will join India's regional satellite navigation constellation.

The final launch was another SpaceX Falcon 9, but this time, it was carrying SpainSat NG I communications satellite for Hisdesat. Unusually, the first stage of this rocket was not recovered because extra performance was needed to orbit this satellite.