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

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.

That’s all for this week, check back next week!

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