Launch

After an abnormal lull in SpaceX launches last week due to weather and technical delays, that could change this week with a handful of Falcon 9 missions before the Christmas weekend. Firefly is back with another launch of its Alpha rocket this week, following the success of its VICTUS NOX mission in September.

Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket late Thursday evening after a couple months break after suffering a failure in September. The successful launch deployed a synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japan’s Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, iQPS.

SpaceX plans to launch about 50 rockets from Vandenberg Space Force Base in 2024 with a chance of 100 launches in the year 2025. This comes to a spaceport that has historically seem launches in the single digits. Now, it could soon see a launch for SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket in the next few years.

With a post on social media, Blue Origin announced its return to flight for the New Shepard rocket. Flying science equipment and postcards from its charity Club for the Future, launch is set for no earlier than December 18.

In a post on social media, ULA CEO Tory Bruno shared that the launch date for the company’s new rocket, Vulcan, has been delayed to NET January 8. This comes after a wet dress rehearsal that wasn’t completed in full due to ground system faults. Another dress rehearsal will be required before launch.

This week we are tracking the possibility of seeing seven launches from both the United States and China. On the US side, all of those launches will be coming from SpaceX with three being Starlink and one being a Falcon Heavy for the Space Force.

ESA has shared a timeline for what is left for Ariane 6 before launching its first mission. The new heavy lift rocket has two more ground tests on the booster and upper stage before a launch window opens up targeting mid-June to July 2024.

A slight feud played out between Relativity CEO Tim Ellis and Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck about the usefulness of launch contracts for rockets still in development. Ellis explained why they do it and the benefits it gives both them and the customer.

Rocket Lab completed payload integration of the Japanese iQPS satellite at its facility in New Zealand. The company now has a wet dress rehearsal to complete ahead of a launch, which has a NET date set for December 13.

This week we are only seeing two launches and both are from SpaceX. The obligatory SLC-40 Starlink launch and a fun little RTLS launch out of Vandenberg. By “fun little” I mean a reconnaissance satellite for the South Korean government. That mission however is also launching the first satellite for the nation of Ireland.

On Thanksgiving day here in the US, ESA conducted a simulated launch static fire of the Ariane 6 first stage booster. Powered by a single Vulcain 2.1 engine, the stage burned through almost 150 tons of fuel over a seven minute burn.

A NASA official’s notes during an Advisory Council meeting shares that Blue Origin‘s first New Glenn launch could come no earlier than August 2024. NASA expects its ESCAPADE mission to be on top of that rocket, but is less confident in the launch date.

After a rather eventful weekend, SpaceX only has one launch schedule for the week with a private Chinese company making a rare appearance, and Russia’s military launching a Soyuz 2. However, on Thanksgiving day, Arianespace and the ESA are planning a test of its Vulcain 2.1 engine down in French Guiana.

This week is a rather slow one with two launches scheduled for SpaceX‘s Falcon 9, yes they’re for Starlink. However, pending regulatory approval, the week could finish with the second launch of the company’s Starship rocket.

Over the weekend, SpaceX launched three Falcon 9 rockets from all three of its launch pads. The missions were all commercially purchased wither by NASA, SES, or in part of a rideshare program. Two out of the three flights featured RTLS landings at LZ-1 and 4, a rare occurrence.

This week we have four launches from SpaceX and from both coats. Not just that, but two of the launches this week will feature RTLS landings. That means only one thing, non-Starlink launches!

This week Virgin Galactic is returning for its six flight within six months. Galactic 5 will be one of many launches happening this week, two others from China and possibly three from SpaceX.

Early Friday morning, Astrobotic’s first lunar lander departed its offices in Pittsburgh for a drive down to Florida to be integrated onto the Atlas V for launch as soon as December. A flight the company has been waiting to do for years.

In an interview with CNBC, ULA CEO Tory Bruno said that they plan to fly its new Vulcan every other week by the second half of 2025. This is thanks to their new grasp on the commercial launch market that Vulcan is expected to be able to compete with SpaceX on.

After long delays due to engines and the rocket’s Centaur upper stage, ULA finally has given a launch date for when it thinks it can launch its new Vulcan rocket. In an interview with CNBC, ULA CEO Tory Bruno shared the date and a lot of other company updates we’ll expand upon in future articles.