This Week in Launches: Virgin Galactic flies sweepstake winners, Russia returns to the Moon

This week, we have a pair of space launches from both Russia and SpaceX, along with a noteworthy commercial sub-orbital space tourism flight by Virgin Galactic. The eagerly awaited sweepstakes winner will finally get her chance to fly on VSS Unity, coinciding with Russia’s long-anticipated return to the Moon with Luna 25.

This Week’s Launches:

• August 8
  • VK RF Soyuz 2.1b Glonass-K2 n°13L, 10:10 A.M. ET
    • Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia
• August 9
  • SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink Group 6-20, 12:00 A.M. ET
    • SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
• August 10
  • Virgin Galactic VSS Unity Galactic 02, 10:00 A.M. ET
    • Spaceport America, New Mexico
  • Roscosmos Soyuz 2.1b Luna 25, 7:10 P.M. ET
    • Site 1S, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia
  • SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink Group 6-9, 7:23 P.M. ET
    • SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

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Virgin Galactic flying three tourist

Following the spaceflight of company founder Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic collaborated with Omaze to offer two seats on a future flight. The fortunate winner of this opportunity was announced to be Keisha Schahaff from Antigua and Barbuda. Schahaff was awarded two tickets and is thrilled to share this extraordinary experience with her daughter, Anastatia Mayers.

Schahaff and Mayers will be joined by ticket holder Jon Goodwin, a former Olympian and now an adventurer. Mayers will become the first non-government ticket holder to fly on a Virgin Galactic flight. The original ticket price was approximately $250,000. However, prices for Virgin Galactic spaceflights have now doubled to $500,000 but early ticket holders didn’t need to pay any additional charges.

To ensure a safe and comfortable flight, Virgin Galactic’s employee and chief astronaut trainer, Beth Moses, will accompany the three space travelers on their journey, assisting them in maneuvering in and out of their seats. Moreover, Unity will be piloted by two former NASA pilots, astronaut CJ Sturckow and research pilot Kelly Latimer.

The coverage of this space launch event is expected to commence on Thursday morning at 11:00 A.M. ET from Spaceport America in New Mexico.

Russia returns to the Moon

Russia has scheduled two Soyuz 2.1b launches for this week, and it is noteworthy to mention that it has been some time since we last covered even a single Soyuz launch. The first launch, a GLONASS (Russian GPS) satellite for the Russian armed forces, should have already occurred by the time you’re reading this.

The second launch holds more significance, as it marks the revival of the Soviet Luna program. The Luna 25 is a lander designed primarily to validate the landing technology of the new platform. Additionally, it carries 30 kg of scientific payloads, mainly focusing on lunar regolith studies.

While Luna 25 is not officially part of the Luna program, the name is being retained with the last mission of this name, Luna 24, was launched in 1976 and brought back 170.1 g of lunar soil to Earth. Although Luna 25 won’t be bringing any lunar soil back, there are plans for Luna 28 to potentially achieve this milestone.

As this is not a NASA-partnered mission like the Soyuz and Progress spacecraft flights, it remains uncertain how much launch coverage we will see for the Luna 25 mission.