After a busy last two weeks, the speed of the global release schedule slowed this week. In the first launch of the week, China launched the first batch of its G60 satellite constellation. If the plans for this vast constellation come to fruition, we can expect to see many more such launches in the near future.
Rocket Lab also showed up this week, putting some other satellites into orbit for Capella Space.
SpaceX continued to expand its Starlink constellation with two Falcon Nine Starlink launches this week. They also presented a Falcon nine for Norwegian Space.
With nine successful launches since the second level anomaly on July 12, SpaceX appears to be returning to its overall Falcon nine launch cadence.
As arrangements continue for SpaceX to launch the Crew-9 and Polaris Dawn missions in the coming weeks, it appears that the team’s new access arm at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) will most likely not be available. available for any of the missions. In response to a question at a press conference on July 26, Steve Stitch, program director of NASA’s publicity team, said that NASA and SpaceX are still working on the certification procedure for the use of the SLC-40 for team members. He said the procedure is expected to be completed by the end of September.
The intended date for Polaris Dawn has been revised and is lately indexed as no earlier than August 26, from LC-39A, while Crew-9 is now scheduled for September 24, from SLC-40.
Long Gear CCAC 6A | G60 Qianfan Xingzuo F1 x18
A Long March 6A unveiled on Tuesday, August 6 at 06:42 UTC from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China with the first batch of satellites from the G60 internet constellation. Long March 6A headed directly south from the launch site and it appears that the payloads were placed in a circular polar orbit of about 800 km.
Later reports indicated that the launcher’s level broke after the deployment of the payload. Authorities are monitoring the looming cloud of debris. No official update has been released from China.
– US Space Command (@US_SpaceCom) August 8, 2024
As mentioned, the payload is made up of the first 18 G60 satellites, which will serve as the Chinese equivalent of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. It is expected that 108 satellites will be introduced this year as a component of a first tranche of 1,296 satellites. Ultimately, the constellation will consist of more than 14,000 broadband multimedia satellites in low orbit. China’s Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) raised 6. 7 billion yuan, or about $943 million, to build the constellation, aimed at supplying global internet to China.
Shanghai Gesi Aerospace Technology (Genesat) is overseeing the structure of the G60 satellites. SSST shaped Genesat in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAMCAS) Microsatellite Innovation Academy. The G60 satellites are being built at a factory in Shanghai’s Songjiang district. , a fully automated production line that aims to produce up to 500 sets per year until the end of 2025.
With this launch, the G60 constellation seems to be leading the Internet satellite race in China. The G60 competition comes with a similar low-orbit constellation known as Guowang (SatNet) and a medium-Earth orbit constellation called Smart Skynet. In addition, the Chinese company Landspace recently requested permission to acquire a constellation of 10,000 satellites. The launch of the G60 will contribute to safe orbits and frequencies for China as demand increases in this competitive sector, both globally and domestically.
Long March 6A is a two-tier booster with 4 solid-state rocket engines connected to the first level of the rocket. Unlike the Falcon 9, which SpaceX uses to launch its Starlink constellation, the Long March 6A is not reusable; suitable reusable thrusters are being built and tested in China. This is the fourth launch of the Long March 6 rocket this year.
SpaceX Falcon nine | Starlink Group 8-3
A Falcon nine with a new batch of 21 Starlink satellites scheduled to launch on Friday, August 9 at 00:13 EDT (16:13 UTC) from the Cape Canaveral Space Force’s Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) . Station in Florida. The release attempt was delayed until the end of the four-hour release window, likely due to bad weather in the recovery area, and was canceled for the day.
After all, the launch took place on Saturday, August 10 at 8:50 am. m. EDT (12:50 UTC), 50 minutes in a launch window of two hours and forty-eight minutes.
LIVE: https://t. co/h84LtSebOr pic. twitter. com/3wymmw76bb
— Chris Bergin – NSF (@NASASpaceflight) August 10, 2024
The booster, B1067, carried the payload of the Mini Starlink v2 satellites in low Earth orbit, introduced on a northeast trajectory from Cape Town. Thirteen of the Starlink satellites have Direct-to-Cell equipment.
The booster effectively landed on the Just Read The Instructions autonomous drone parked downstream in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Falcon nine booster for this flight on its 21st mission, having flown CRS-22, Crew-3, Türksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Starlink Group 4-34, Hotbird 13G, O3b mPOWER 1
The first flight of the booster took place on June 3, 2021 and it has carried out all its missions from Cape Town. B1067 is the third Falcon 9 booster to make its twenty-first flight.
Rocket Lab Electron | A sky full of SAR
Just 8 days after the previous Rocket Lab launch, another Electron is scheduled to lift off from Rocket Lab LC-1B, off Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand, on Sunday, August 11 at 11:15 p. m. New Zealand (11:15 UTC). The countdown was suspended for a time due to maximum wind speeds, and then the wait was extended to allow the government to clear a wayward signal from the release risk zone.
The bottomwinds then returned to their limits and the release took place on Monday, August 12 at 01:18 NZT (August Sunday at 13:18 UTC).
– Chris Bergin – NSF (@NASASpaceflight) August 11, 2024
The payload is a Capella Space Acadia-3 artificial aperture radar satellite, which has been placed into a 615 km circular orbit with medium inclination. Rocket Lab developed a custom elongated fairing for this satellite.
The electron reinforcement carried out a regime release sequence, with the first level running for up to two minutes and 37 moments after the project began, and the moment level for up to nine minutes and nine moments. The start level (upper level) then separated and slid for up to 53 minutes and 10 moments, after which it performed a three-minute circular burn. The deployment of the payload took place 56 minutes and 49 moments after release.
This is the tenth electron project of 2024, the 52nd overall, and Rocket Lab’s fifth project for Capella Space.
SpaceX Falcon nine | Norwegian space ASBM
A Falcon nine lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday, August 12 at 7:02 p. m. PDT (Monday, August 13 at 02:02 UTC).
The payload for this project is comprised of two GEOstar satellite platforms built through Northrop Grumman. The two satellites bring 3 separate payloads for the Norway Ministry of Defense, Inmarsat (now Viasat) and the United States Space Force (USSF). awarded in 2019, with Space Norway being the operator of the satellites. The Arctic Broadband Satellite Mission (ASBM) dual satellites weigh a total of 7,200 kg.
The Norwegian Ministry of Defense will use the satellites to provide high-speed, reliable and uninterrupted Internet access to civilian and military users in the Arctic region via the X-band. A dedicated ground station was built in northern Norway to ensure the installation.
Viasat will supply a Ka-band broadband facility to its consumers in the region.
The USSF payloads built by Northrop Grumman are known as Enhanced Polar System Recapitalization (EPS-R), and they offer broadband communications to the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard. operating in the North Polar region.
Both satellites will operate in a dedicated highly elliptical “Molniya-type” Earth orbit, from 8,000 km to 43,000 km susceptible to 63. 4 degrees, according to the continuous policy of the operational region. The following video from Space Norway illustrates how this orbit allows for a continuous policy:
The propeller for this flight is B1061, which is flying for the time being.
After separating from the stage, the thruster effectively landed on the autonomous drone Of course I still love you.
Booster B1061 has flown in the past Crew-1, Crew-2, SXM-8, CRS-23, IXPE, Starlink Group 4-7, Transporter-4, Transporter-5, Globalstar FM15/Rideshare, Starlink Group 3-3, EROS-C3, Starlink Group 2-7, Starlink Group 3-5, Starlink Group 2-10, Starlink Group 7-1, Starlink Group 7-5, EIRSAT-1, Starlink Group 7-10, Starlink Group 7-15, WorldView Legion 1 and 2, and Starlink Group 8-8. Its first flight took place on November 16, 2020.
SpaceX Falcon nine | Starlink Group 10-7
Another batch of 23 Mini Starlink v2 satellites is scheduled to launch atop a Falcon nine on Sunday, August 11 at 10:5 a. m. m. EDT (2:5 9:5 p. m. UTC) from Launch Complex 3nineA (LC-3nineA) in Kennedy Space. It had replaced several times and the launch time was set right at the end of the window. The countdown continued until forty-six seconds before launch, but was interrupted for reasons still unknown. SpaceX announced that a new attempt would be made and that the launch attempt was a success. Monday, Aug. 12 at 6:37 a. m. EDT (10:37 a. m. EDT). m. UTC). The early morning schedule, coupled with weather conditions, produced a visually striking launch that ended SpaceX’s series of three launches over the course of a single week.
The booster, B1073, effectively landed on SpaceX’s autonomous drone, A Shortfall Of Gravitas, parked roughly six hundred kilometers downstream. The two halves of the fairing will be collected via the Go Cosmos spacecraft.
– Chris Bergin – NSF (@NASASpaceflight) August 12, 2024
Booster B1073 with past missions: Starlink Group 4-15, SES-22, Starlink Group 4-26, Starlink Group 4-35, HAKUTO-R Mission 1, Amazonas Nexus, CRS-27, Starlink Group 6-2, Starlink Group 5 -11, Starlink organization 6-12, Starlink organization 6-27, Starlink organization 6-37, Starlink organization 6-41, Bandwagon-1, Starlink organization 6-58 and Starlink organization 8-9. Its first flight took place on May 4, 2022.
There was a brief moment on Sunday when the timing of that launch meant that the Falcon nine would have been introduced from Florida at the same minute as Rocket Lab’s Electron introduced from New Zealand, but both missions were delayed, preventing it.
(Main image: Starlink 10-4 launch of LC-39A. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)
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