Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-29 to simulate Moon's gravity this week - TWIRL #198

We have quite a diverse set of rockets launching this week, from Mitsubishi's H3 to Blue Origin's New Shepard. The launch that will probably get the most attention this week is the New Shepard mission, which is unusual as it will be uncrewed. Instead, it'll be carrying dozens of experiments that will experience lunar gravity for a few minutes.

Monday, 27 January

• Who: SpaceX
• What: Falcon 9
• When: 19:21 UTC
• Where: Florida, US
• Why: SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 carrying 21 Starlink satellites to a low Earth orbit. Among them will be 13 direct-to-cell Starlink satellites, which are a newer generation designed to work with mobile phones that support the technology. This batch of satellites is known as Starlink Group 12-7 and can be observed when it's in orbit using an app like ISS Detector. After the launch, expect the Falcon 9's first stage to perform a landing.

Tuesday, 28 January

• Who: Blue Origin
• What: New Shepard
• When: 16:00 UTC
• Where: Texas, US
• Why: This mission is designated New Shepard 29 (NS-29) and will be uncrewed. This suborbital mission will be carrying 30 experiments and simulate the Moon's gravity inside the capsule for a few minutes. Discussing the mission in more depth, Blue Origin says:

The payloads will experience at least two minutes of lunar gravity forces, a first for New Shepard and made possible in part through support from NASA. The flight will test six broad lunar technology areas: In-situ resource utilization, dust mitigation, advanced habitation systems, sensors and instrumentation, small spacecraft technologies, and entry descent and landing. Proving out these technologies at lower cost is another step toward Blue Origin’s mission to lower the cost of access to space for the benefit of Earth. It also enables NASA and other lunar surface technology providers to test innovations critical to achieving Artemis program goals and exploring the Moon’s surface.

• Who: ISRO (Indian Space Agency)
• What: GSLV
• When: 22:45 - 02:45 UTC
• Where: Andhra Pradesh, India
• Why: Using the GSLV rocket, India will launch the NSV 2 navigation satellite to bolster its regional navigation constellation. It is being launched to replace an older satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System constellation. Unlike GPS or Galileo, IRNSS is a regional constellation, meaning it works in India and surrounding countries.

Wednesday, 29 January

• Who: SpaceX

   

• What: Falcon 9
• When: 04:00 UTC
• Where: Florida, US
• Why: Using a Falcon 9, SpaceX will launch the Spainsat-NG 1 comms satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit for Hisdesat. The first stage of the rocket will likely perform a landing for reuse.

Thursday, 30 January

• Who: SpaceX
• What: Falcon 9
• When: 10:44 - 14:44 UTC
• Where: Florida, US
• Why: SpaceX will launch 21 Starlink satellites into a low Earth orbit. This batch is called Starlink Group 12-3 and will include 13 direct-to-cell satellites. The first stage of the rocket should perform a landing so that it can be reused on future missions.

Saturday, 1 February

• Who: Mitsubishi
• What: H3
• When: 08:30 - 10:30 UTC
• Where: Tanegashima Space Center, Japan
• Why: Mitsubishi will launch an H3 rocket carrying the sixth Michibiki (QZS 6) navigation satellite for JAXA into geostationary orbit.

Recap

The first launch last week came from the Chinese company Galactic Energy, which launched the Ceres-1 rocket carrying several satellites in a mission called 'On Your Shoulders':

Next, we got a Starlink launch from SpaceX, which used its Falcon 9:

The third mission was SpaceX's second Starlink mission of the week. It launched 27 Starlink sats as part of Starlink Group 11-8 before landing the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket:

Next up, we got the launch of a Long March 6A rocket from China carrying 18 SpaceSail Polar Orbit satellites. These satellites will provide broadband internet services:

We also saw a Long March 3B launch carrying the TJSW-14 test communications satellite:

The final launch of the week was a Falcon 9 from SpaceX carrying Starlink Group 11-6 to low Earth orbit. After launch, the first stage of the rocket performed a landing:

That's all for this week; check back next time.

Source

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