SpaceX to launch first direct-to-cell Starlink satellites - TWIRL #144

The TWIRL logo in front of Earth

We have a lot of launches from China this week but perhaps the most interesting development is that SpaceX will be launching the first direct-to-cell Starlink satellites. These will allow customers to connect their phones and other devices directly to the satellites.

Monday, 25 December

Who: Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA)
What: Long March 11H
When: 11:20 p.m. UTC
Where: South China Sea
Why: This rocket will be launching a satellite called Xianggang from a ship called Bo Run Jiu Zhou. The satellite is Hong Kong’s first high-res remote-sensing AI satellite.

Tuesday, 26 December

Who: CNSA
What: Long March 3B/E
When: 3:10 a.m. UTC
Where: Xichang Satellite Launch Centre
Why: This rocket will launch two BeiDou navigation satellites into orbit for the Chinese government. These two satellites will be the last BeiDou-3M satellites and will complete the medium Earth orbit component of the third phase of BeiDou.

Wednesday, 27 December

Who: ExPace
What: Kuaizhou 1A
When: 6:57 a.m. UTC
Where: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre
Why: In this launch, ExPace will be launching an unknown payload into orbit.

Who: Roscosmos
What: Soyuz 2.1v
When: 7:00 a.m. UTC
Where: Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Why: Roscosmos will use the Soyuz 2.1v rocket to launch a classified satellite called Kosmos. It is most likely to be a Razbeg reconnaissance satellite capable of taking high-res images for civilian and military purposes.

Friday, 29 December

Who: SpaceX
What: Falcon 9 B5
When: 5:09 - 8:32 a.m. UTC
Where: Vandenberg AFB
Why: SpaceX will launch 21 Starlink satellites into a low Earth orbit. Interestingly, this is the first launch of direct-to-cell Starlink satellites which will allow customers to connect their devices directly to the satellites. This batch of satellites is called Starlink Group 7-9, this can be used to find the satellites on tracking apps.

Saturday, 30 December

Who: ExPace
What: Kuaizhou 1A
When: 12:00 a.m. UTC
Where: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre
Why: ExPace will launch an extremely low Earth orbit satellite for Chaodigui for China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation and EOI Space. These companies are apparently working on a beyond-line-of-sight idea that could bring satellites closer to Earth than they are today.

Recap

The first launch last week was iSpace’s Hyperbola 1 rocket carrying the DEAR 1 satellite from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. The satellite will be used for optical observations and for carrying life science payloads.

Next, SpaceX launched a batch of Starlink satellites and the first stage of the Falcon 9 performed a landing ready to be reused.

Last week we also got a launch from Blue Origin which we haven’t seen in a while. The company launched the New Shepard rocket carrying 3 payload from NASA and education institutes.

Finally, Firefly Aerospace launched the fourth Firefly Alpha rocket from Vandenberg AFB carrying the Electronically Steered Antenna from Lockheed Martin.