SpaceX gears up for busy week with multiple Starlink deployments - TWIRL #175

The TWIRL logo in front of a Falcon 9

Two weeks ago, there weren't any rocket launches locked in, and last week, we only ended up having one launch in the recap section. Now, however, we are back to normal with a healthy recap section and several launches to report on that are coming up! This Week in Rocket Launches, SpaceX will dominate with Falcon 9 launches, but China has one ready, too.

Sunday, 4 August

Who: SpaceX
What: Falcon 9
When: 07:00 - 11:00 UTC
Where: California, US
Why: SpaceX will use a Falcon 9 to launch 21 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. This batch of satellites will include several newer direct-to-cell satellites, too. These satellites will be referred to as Starlink Group 11-1. If you use apps like ISS Detector, this is the identifier to look out for. Following the launch, it is highly probable that the first stage of the Falcon 9 will perform a landing so that it can be reused. The Starlink constellation beams the internet down to customers on Earth.

Monday, 5 August

Who: CNSA
What: Long March 6A
When: Unknown
Where: Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China
Why: The Long March 6A rocket will be launched with a batch of 18 satellites that will make up part of the G60 Qianfan Xingzuo internet constellation. This constellation is operated by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST).

Wednesday, 7 August

Who: SpaceX
What: Falcon 9
When: 12:59 - 16:59 UTC
Where: Florida, US
Why: This mission will see SpaceX use a Falcon 9 to launch yet another batch of Starlink satellites. This batch is known as Starlink Group 8-3, and the first stage of the rocket is also expected to make a landing. This group of satellites will include 13 direct-to-cell satellites.

Recap

The first launch we got last week was a Falcon 9 launch from SpaceX. The Starlink satellites in this launch are Starlink Group 10-4. The first stage of the rocket performed a landing on a sea droneship.

Next up was another Falcon 9 launching more Starlink sats, this time, Group 9-4. Similarly, the first stage of the rocket landed on a droneship.

The third mission of the week was conducted by United Launch Alliance (ULA), which launched the Atlas V rocket carrying a national security-related payload of the US Space Force.

The fourth mission moves away from America and takes us to China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center. CNSA launched a Long March 3B rocket carrying the WHG-02 high-orbit internet services satellite.

The last but one mission saw SpaceX launch another Falcon 9 carrying more Starlink satellites.

Finally, Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket carrying Synspective's fifth StriX Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite from Mahia, New Zealand. The mission was named "Owl For One, One for Owl."