The week of the sixth anniversary of the Falcon Heavy’s first flight, SpaceX plans to launch 4 Falcon missions, nine separate ones. Meanwhile, JAXA is currently flying the H3 rocket after its failed first launch in 2023, while Roscosmos will resupply the International Space Station (ISS) with the launch of Progress MS-26 on the Soyuz.
On Tuesday evening, this week’s first batch of Starlink satellites was supposed to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California but that was scrubbed due to bad weather. Early Thursday morning, another Falcon 9 will launch from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) to take NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Earth-observing satellite to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Later in the week, SpaceX will launch again from SLC-40 taking another group of Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit.
To close out this extended week, there will be a triple release of releases from 3 other countries. The first will be SpaceX’s launch of the IM-1 Nova-C lunar lander from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will release 3 payloads from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, which is expected to be the first successful launch of the H3 rocket. Finally, a Soyuz 2. 1a will be introduced from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. to resupply the ISS.
SpaceX Falcon Nine | RHYTHM
On Friday, February 9 at 1:33 a. m. EST (06:33 UTC), SpaceX will launch NASA’s PACE ground satellite on a Falcon nine from CCSFS’s SLC-40.
PACE is a long-term Earth-observation satellite that will show constant models of global ocean color, cloud, and aerosol data. This satellite has many different uses all in one package and will benefit humanity’s understanding of the Earth by watching for changes and inconsistencies to predict environmental phenomena such as weather, visibility, and air quality.
The booster launching this project is B1081-4, which will return propulsively to Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) shortly after launch. The second level will insert PACE into a 676. 5-kilometer sun-synchronous polar orbit susceptible to 98 degrees.
SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 7-13
After a delay since Feb. 3 due to unfavorable recovery conditions, SpaceX targeted Feb. 6 at 9:01 p. m. PST (February 7 at 05:01 UTC) for the launch of Starlink 7-13 group from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. However, the launch was cancelled before the T-40’s moment mark. The weather was only 30% favorable at the time and SpaceX showed on the social media platform X that the weather was the explanation for the reason for the scrub.
An expected 22 v2 Mini satellites will be lofted to a 53-degree inclination orbit on a southeastern trajectory. The booster will land on the autonomous droneship “Of Course I Still Love You” downrange in the Pacific Ocean.
The rapid momentum for the launch of the project is still known. Group 7-13 is expected to be the 11th SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of the year and the 25th orbital launch attempt of the year.
SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-39
SpaceX will launch another stack of Starlink satellites on Feb. 10 at 1:00 a. m. m. EST (06:00 UTC) from SLC-40 from CCSFS in Florida. Starlink Group 6-39 will have a payload of 23 Starlink v2 Mini satellites. These satellites will head into an initial low-Earth orbit of 284 kilometers to 293 kilometers with a susceptible southeast trajectory of 43 degrees. The 23 satellites will add to the thousands of active Starlink satellites in orbit that provide internet to people around the world.
The booster for this project is unknown at this time, but it is believed that it will land on one of two autonomous drones stationed on the East Coast. This will be the 27th orbital launch in 2024, almost a portion of which will be Falcon nine launches.
SpaceX Falcon Nine | Nova-C (IM-1)
The 300th flight of the Falcon nine and the next project to the Moon will launch on February 14 at 00:57 EST (05:57 UTC). Falcon nine is expected to carry Intuitive Machines’ first Nova-C lunar lander into translunar space. Injection. Lifting off from the historic LC-3nineA at KSC in Florida, Falcon nine will launch with an unknown booster, then return to LZ-1 while the current level does the heavy lifting, taking Nova C to the Moon.
Nova-C is the next lunar lander in NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. CLPS was created to give private companies the resources to build advertising lunar landers to send NASA payloads to the Moon before the crewed Artemis III lands. It will bring five NASA payloads and four personal or educational payloads with the goal of studying column-surface interactions, radio astronomy, and space weather interactions on the lunar surface. The lander will land in Malapert A, a crater near the moon’s south pole.
– Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera (Alex) (@Alexphysics13) January 21, 2024
If all goes well with this flight, Intuitive Machines plans to launch a second lunar lander in the second quarter of this year to send more payloads from NASA, universities and advertising companies to the lunar surface.
JAXA/MHI H3-22 | VEP 4, CE-SAT-1E & TIRSAT
The second flight of JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ (MHI) H3-22 rocket is scheduled for February 15 at 09:22 JST (00:22 UTC) from LA-Y2 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. The H3 is classified as a medium-range launch vehicle and uses cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in its first and second stages. The center rocket can optionally be supplemented with two or four forged rocket boosters.
The first flight of the H3 experienced a failure of the second engine’s igniter, causing the test payload to fall under orbit. While the second flight was originally planned to release the Earth satellite ALOS-4, the vehicle’s failure caused JAXA to decide to fly. the Vehicle Assessment Payload-4 (VEP-4) mass simulator, although there are also two small satellites on board for this flight.
Roscosmos Soyuz 2. 1a | MS-26 Progress
The next ISS resupply project will be introduced into a Soyuz 2. 1a in low Earth orbit on February 15 at 09:25 AQTT (03:25 UTC) from 31/6 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This project will take Progress MS-26 to the ISS, bringing food, water, oxygen, fuel and more to keep the Station and its astronauts healthy.
This will be Soyuz 2.1a’s 74th overall mission but the first of 2024. Progress MS-26’s docking time is unknown, as is the date of its departure from the Station. This will be the 179th Progress mission since the first flight back in 1978.
(Main image: Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Nova-C lander before being encapsulated in the Falcon nine payload fairing. Credit: SpaceX)
©2005-2023 – NASASpaceflight. com