Weekly Dose of Space (1/12-7/12)
Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had ten orbital launches taking place, with most occurring in one day. News this week had Artemis gaining more delays, Orbex moving launch sites, and Space Pioneer possibly making a return. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.
SpaceX
This week at Starbase began on December 2nd when a crane was spotted lifting Ship 34's raceways for installation onto the vehicle, this raceway protects electrical and commodity lines during flight. Overnight Ship 34 was moved onto the center stand inside the 'mega bay' for engine installation, this was spotted on December 3rd.
A few days later on December 6th, Booster 14 was rolled out from the production site to the launch site. Not long after arriving the booster was lifted onto the Orbital Launch Mount. Testing of the booster on the launch mount was underway on December 7th with propellant loaded into the vehicle and the boosters thirty-three Raptor engines performing a spin prime test.
Launches This Week
December 3rd - Long March 3B/E with TJSW-13
A Long March 3B/E lifted off from Launch Complex 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center for its one-hundredth mission. For this mission, the rocket flew to geostationary transfer orbit carrying the Technology Experimental Satellite-13, the satellite will be used for radio, television, data transmission, satellite communications, and technology testing.
December 4th - Kuaizhou-1A with Haishao-1
An upgraded Kuaizhou-1A flew its first mission from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the Haishao-1 (海哨一号) satellite into low Earth orbit. Haishao-1 will be used to monitor ocean properties and changes.
December 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-70
Falcon 9 delivered a batch of twenty-four Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. The booster for this mission was B1067 for its twenty-fourth mission, and landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas'.
December 4th - Soyuz 2.1b with Kosmos 2580
A Soyuz 2.1b lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome carrying a secret payload to low Earth orbit.
December 5th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 9-14
Another Falcon 9 launched a batch of twenty Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this mission was booster B1081, making its twelfth flight and landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.
December 5th - Long March 6A with Qianfan Polar Group 03
A Long March 6A blasted off from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying the third batch of Qianfan satellites into polar orbit. The Qianfan constellation aims to provide regular internet coverage in China by the end of 2025, followed by regular coverage worldwide by the end of 2027.
December 5th - PSLV with Proba-3
The Indian Space Research Organisation's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center carrying the Proba-3 mission into an elliptical orbit. Proba-3 consists of two spacecraft flying 150 meters from one another to create artificial solar eclipses between the satellites.
December 5th - Falcon 9 with SXM-9
SiriusXM's SXM-9 satellite lifted off atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, heading for geostationary transfer orbit. The SXM-9 spacecraft will be used to allow SiriusXM's programming to reach its customers.
December 5th - Vega-C with Sentinel-1C
Vega-C performed its return-to-flight mission from Ensemble de Lancement Vega at the Guiana Space Center, in French Kourou, carrying the Sentinel-1C satellite to sun-synchronous orbit successfully. The Sentinel-1C satellite will provide an all-weather, day-and-night supply of imagery of Earth’s surface.
December 6th - Simorgh with Fakhr-1 & Sama-1
Iran launched its Simorgh rocket to low Earth orbit from the Imam Khomeini Space Launch Terminal in the north of the country. Fakhr-1 is a CubeSat to test locally produced spacecraft components and a communications payload. Saman-1 is a test spacecraft for sending satellites into a higher orbit using solid propellant.
In Other Space News
Artemis II delays to 2026
NASA announced on December 5th that the Artemis II mission would be delayed from September 2025 to April of 2026 due to issues with Orion's heat shield found during an investigation due to a large amount of material loss. Speaking on the delay, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the following:
“The Artemis campaign is the most daring, technically challenging, collaborative, international endeavor humanity has ever set out to do,” – “We have made significant progress on the Artemis campaign over the past four years, and I’m proud of the work our teams have done to prepare us for this next step forward in exploration as we look to learn more about Orion’s life support systems to sustain crew operations during Artemis II. We need to get this next test flight right. That’s how the Artemis campaign succeeds.”
The announcement of a delay also came with the disclosure of the investigation into Orion's heat shield following the Artemis I mission. NASA engineers determined that as Orion was returning through the atmosphere from its first mission around the Moon gases generated inside the heat shield’s ablative outer material, called Avcoat, were not able to escape and dissipate as expected. This caused pressure to build up and cracking to occur, causing some charred material to break off in unexpected areas.
Further details about the delay and the heat shield issue are available here.
Orbex moves launches to SaxaVord
Orbex announced on December 4th that it has decided to pause work on its own spaceport in Sutherland, instead launching its rockets out of the SaxaVord Spaceport on Scotland's Shetland Islands. Orbex plans to retain its lease to build and operate its own spaceport in Sutherland in hopes of giving the company flexibility to increase launch capacity in the future.
Alongside the announcement of shifting launches to SaxaVord, the company also plans to develop a new medium-sized launch vehicle called Proxima. The company still plans to launch its smaller rocket, Prime, in 2025 and is increasing manufacturing capacity to meet customer demand.
Orbex's Chief Executive Officer, Phil Chambers, commented on both announcements saying:
“Orbex is first and foremost a launch services specialist. Our primary goal is to support the European space industry by achieving a sustainable series of satellite launches into low Earth orbit. This is best achieved by focusing our resources and talents on developing launch vehicles and associated launch services. This decision will help us to reach first launch in 2025 and provides SaxaVord with another customer to further strengthen its commercial proposition. It’s a win-win for UK and Scottish space.” – “Medium-sized space rockets will play an important role in the European space industry in years to come. It is part of our strategic plan to offer the market a medium-sized launcher that will compete in Europe for larger payloads. Pausing the construction of our own spaceport enables us to now focus on developing this offering.”
Space Pioneer returns
Space Pioneer, a Chinese commercial launch company, was previously thought to have been on its last legs from external pressures due to a very dynamic static fire in June earlier this year. However, activity from the company and statements from a manager indicate that the company may fly again soon.
In November, Kang Yonglai (康永来), Space Pioneer’s Founder and Chairman, reportedly led a team from Space Pioneer to learn more about industrial planning and development in the Guizhou Shuanglong Airport Economic Zone. Three weeks later on November 26th, activity was spotted at Space Pioneer’s Gongyi facility, where the company tested engines and performed the “static” fire in June.
A People's Daily report from December 6th about the success of the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site had Ma Lei (马磊), Deputy General Manager of Space Pioneer’s Hainan subsidiary, share that a launch of Tianlong-3 from Commercial Launch Pad 2 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site would occur soon. No additional information was provided other than that Space Pioneer's Hainan facilities are currently being constructed to prepare for the mission, the progress of construction was also not stated.
What to Expect Next Week
Starbase
SpaceX, as we have reported for the past few weeks, has not yet announced when they will be targeting the launch of Starship-Super Heavy's seventh flight test. The seventh flight test is expected to utilize Booster 14 and Ship 33, the first 'Block 2' Starship upper-stage. Both vehicles still need to complete static fire tests while SpaceX seeks regulatory approval, this mission will likely take place in early January 2025.
December 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-5
A batch of twenty-three Starlink satellites is planned to be launched to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 atop a Falcon 9.
December 12th - Ceres-1 with a to-be-announced payload
Galactic Energy may launch a Ceres-1 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying a currently unannounced payload.
December 12th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-2
SpaceX is expecting to launch a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E.
December 12th - Falcon 9 with O3b mPower 7 & 8
A Falcon 9 is expected to launch from Launch Complex 39A carrying two communication satellites to medium Earth orbit for SES.
December 14th - KAIROS for its second flight
Japanese launch company Space One is planning to launch its KAIROS launch vehicle into sun-synchronous orbit from Spaceport Kii. The first flight failed after five seconds back in March.
