SpaceX will launch back-to-back Starlink missions this week - TWIRL #167

TWIRL logo in front of a Falcon 9

We have several missions coming up This Week in Rocket Launches. SpaceX will perform two Starlink launches back-to-back while Russia will send up some satellites for its Ministry of Defense.

Tuesday, 4 June

Who: SpaceX
What: Falcon 9
When: 12:04 – 4:04 a.m. UTC
Where: Florida, US
Why: SpaceX will use a Falcon 9 rocket to launch 23 Starlink satellites into a low Earth orbit. This batch will be known as Starlink Group 8-5 and includes the newer direct-to-cell Starlink satellites. The first stage of the Falcon 9 should also perform a landing so that it can be reused on future launches.

Who: SpaceX
What: Falcon 9
When: 5:12 – 9:12 a.m. UTC
Where: California, US
Why: SpaceX will launch another Falcon 9 carrying 22 Starlink satellites, some of which will be direct-to-cell satellites. Just like the Starlink mission earlier in the day, this mission should see the first stage of the Falcon 9 performing a landing. This group will be known as Starlink Group 8-8.

Thursday, 6 June

Who: Galactic Energy
What: Ceres 1
When: 4:40 a.m. UTC
Where: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, China
Why: This rocket is expected to launch a satellite called Haishao 1. It’s unclear what this satellite will do.

Saturday, 8 June

Who: Roscosmos
What: Soyuz 2.1a
When: Unknown
Where: Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia
Why: Russia will launch a Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying the second Kondor-FKA radar satellite for the Russian Ministry of Defense into orbit. There will also be some other secondary payloads aboard that will be managed by Glavkosmos. The Kondor-FKA satellites, which have a lifetime of five years, are 1.05-tonne small civilian radar Earth observation satellites designed by NPO Mashinstroyeniya as a civilian counterpart to the Kondor-E satellite.

Recap

The first launch we got last week was a Falcon 9 carrying the Starlink 169 mission to orbit. After launching the satellites, the first stage of the Falcon 9 performed a landing so that it could be reused.

Next up, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched the European Space Agency’s EarthCARE mission from California. EarthCARE stands for Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer. The first stage of this Falcon 9 performed a landing ready for reuse and has previously been a part of the Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter-10, and two Starlink missions.

The next mission was pretty interesting, Galactic Energy launched the Ceres 1S rocket with four Tianqi satellites from a sea platform. The Tianqi satellites are used for Internet of Things communications and were developed by Chinese firm Guodian Gaoke.

From Russia, we got the launch of a Soyuz-2.1a carrying the Progress MS-27 spacecraft which took supplies to the International Space Station. The mission is carrying more than three tonnes of food, fuel, and supplies for the crew aboard the ISS.

Next, we went back to China for the launch of a Long March 3B which was carrying the PakSat-MM1 communications satellite for the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO). The satellite will provide services such as broadcasting, regional enhanced communications, high-throughput broadband, and Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) services.

The next launch was from China too, this time a Ceres 1 rocket launched the Heroes mission with five satellites aboard. The satellites were Jiguang 01, Jiguang 02, Heibei Linxi 1, Zhangjiang Gaoke, and Nishuihan 2.

Finally, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying 23 Starlink satellites to a low Earth orbit where they will beam internet back to customers on Earth. The first stage of the Falcon 9 landed on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.