This Week in Launch: SpaceX is back again

This week SpaceX returns with the FAA‘s okay to resume launches, starting with ESA‘s Hera mission to the asteroid Didymos. Late-week weather around the Florida Peninsula will, however, likely delay several missions the company has.

This Week’s Launches

• October 7 (Monday)
  • Blue Origin | New Shepard | NS-27 | 8:00 A.M. CDT
    • Launch Site One, West Texas
  • SpaceX | Falcon 9 | Hera | 10:52 A.M. EDT
    • SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
• October 8 (Tuesday)
  • SpaceX | Falcon 9 | OneWeb #20 | 11:03 P.M. PDT
    • SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
• October 10 (Thursday)
  • CASC | Long March 3B | Unknown Payload | 9:50 A.M. EDT
    • LC-2, Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China
• October 11 (Friday)
  • SpaceX | Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-10 | 2:54 A.M. EDT
    • SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

Quick Launch News

Morgan Stanley reduced its price target for Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson’s space tourism company, from $35 down to just $5. This comes as the company has halted commercial launches until its new Delta Class spaceplanes finish production, possibly in 2026. [Investing.com]

Vega-C’s redesigned second stage passes second test fire over in Italy, paving the way for the rocket’s next launch. After suffering from a failure almost two years ago, Europe’s new small lift launcher has been working on a redesigned Zefiro-40 solid rocket motor. [ESA]

ULA launched its second Vulcan rocket Friday but suffered an issue with its solid rocket motor. While ULA’s CEO stated the mission was a complete success and the rocket did, in fact, make it to orbit around the Sun, an issue with Vulcan’s SLM-1 was seen during launch. ULA now hopes for certification from the Space Force to begin national security missions as soon as this year. [Space Explored]

NASA astronaut John Cassada is retiring from the agency after 11 years in the corps. Cassada recently flew on SpaceX’s Crew-5, his only spaceflight, where he conducted three spacewalks, installing new solar panels for the ISS. Before joining NASA, Cassada was a U.S. Navy test pilot and instructor test pilot. [NASA]

SpaceX returns to flight (again) with ESA’s Hera mission

According to Heras project manager, the FAA has granted SpaceX a license to launch the interplanetary mission at 10:52 A.M. EDT. The mission will chase down Didymos, the asteroid hit by NASA’s DART mission in 2022, and study what changes were made post-impact.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has been grounded since the launch of Crew-9, where its second stage ran into an issue during its deorbit burn. While the crew safely made it to orbit and to the ISS, the second stage did not reenter over its designated area.

Weather for Hera’s launch is looking rough, with only a 15% chance of favorable weather according to Launch Delta 45, which oversees Florida launches. A backup launch date will be available Tuesday at 10:46 A.M. EDT if needed.

NASA delays Europa Clipper due to Hurricane Milton

NASA announced Sunday that it will be delaying the launch of the much-anticipated Europa Clipper mission until after Hurricane Milton passes the state of Florida. The payload, the largest ever sent on an interplanetary system, is safely inside its payload fairing, inside SpaceX’s integration hangar at LC-39A.

The storm, currently located just off the coast of Mexico, is making an abnormal trek across the Gulf to Florida. It is expected to become a major hurricane when it makes landfall, at least a Category 3. Some early models show it reaching Category 4 or even 5, the highest possible, in the coming days.

No estimate for a possible launch date has been given for Clipper’s next launch as Kennedy Space Center prepares for the storm. NASA has stated that the mission’s launch window remains open until November 6.