TWIRL 96: South Korea startup Innospace set to launch Hanbit-TLV rocket

We have just a few launches locked in for this week, South Korean startup Innospace plans to launch its Hanbit-TLV rocket (pictured) and Arianespace will launch a Vega C rocket with satellites from French Guyana. The recap this week is quite lengthy so check out the videos.

Monday, December 19

• The first launch of the week comes from Innospace, a South Korean rocket startup. It plans to launch its suborbital technology demonstration rocket, Hanbit-TLV. This rocket will be used to test the first stage engine which will eventually be used in another rocket called the Hanbit Nano orbital launcher that will orbit satellites. The Monday launch is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. UTC from Alcantara Space Center in Brazil.

Tuesday, December 20

• The second and final launch of the week will see an Arianespace Vega C rocket launch two Pleiades Neo Earth observation satellites. Pleiades Neo is a constellation consisting of four satellites that capture very high-resolution images of Earth. This launch will also carry up a secondary payload, the QQ Technology nanosat. This mission is due to launch at 1:47 a.m. UTC from French Guyana.

Recap

• The first launch we got last week was a Long March 4C carrying the Shiyan-20 A/B satellites from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. They will be used for space environment monitoring.

• Next, an Ariane 5 launched the Meteosat Third Generation-Imager 1 (MTG-I1), Galaxy 35, and Galaxy 36 satellites. The launch took place from French Guyana.

• On Wednesday, a Chinese Long March 2D launched Yaogan-36 05 to its planned orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

• Friday brought us the launch of a Long March 11, again from the Xichang SLC. This rocket was carrying the Shiyan-21 satellite which will be used for in-orbit verification of new space technologies.

• Next, SpaceX launched NASA's Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission. It will conduct the first global survey of the Earth's surface water.

• It was a busy few days for SpaceX as it then had to launch two SES O3b mPOWER satellites before landing the first stage of the rocket on a droneship.

• Finally, SpaceX concludes our list this week with the launch of a Falcon 9 carrying 54 Starlink satellites to orbit. These will provide internet connectivity on Earth.

That's all for this week, check in next week!

TWIRL 96: South Korea startup Innospace set to launch Hanbit-TLV rocket