Weekly Dose of Space (22/9-28/9)

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had six orbital launches occur, with the majority lifting off from Asia. News this week had Starlink expanding onto two major airlines, another reusable rocket test from China, and Blue Origin steadily progressing on the path to flight. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

SpaceX

This week at Starbase has been quieter than most, nevertheless it began on September 23rd when Booster 12 and Ship 30 performed a partial propellant loading test on the launchpad. Liquid methane and liquid oxygen propellants were loaded into both vehicles, with SpaceX confirming it as a successful test a few hours later.

While regular activity toward future flights has been happening at Starbase, SpaceX has also gone fishing. More specifically fishing for parts of Booster 11. Booster 11 flew on Starship-Super Heavy's fourth flight test and landed in the Gulf of Mexico near Starbase. Following its landing at sea, the vehicle exploded for unknown reasons.

Once SpaceX teams recovered hardware from Booster 11 on the seabed, the remains were delivered to the Massey's test site. It's unknown what SpaceX plans to do with the recovered hardware. Several of the engines were spotted full of sand, having been resting on the seabed for the last three months.

Launches This Week

September 24th - Jielong-3 with 8 satellites

A Jielong-3 rocket lifted off from a sea launch platform off fo the coast of Haiyang, in eastern China, carrying 8 satellites to a sun-synchronus orbit. Details about the various technology demonstrations and research spacecraft are available here.

September 25th - Kinetica-1 with 5 satellites

CAS Space's Kinetica-1 blasted off from Launch Site 130 at the Jiuquan satellite launch Center heading for sun-synchronus orbit carrying five satellites for three customer's constellations. Details about these constellations are available here.

September 25th - Starlink Group 9-8

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E carrying 20 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. The booster for this mission was B1081 flying for the tenth time and landing on the drone ship 'Of Couse I Still Love You' downrange.

September 26th - H2A with IGS Radar 8

A H2A rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center carrying the IGS Radar 8 reconnaissance satellites for the Japanese government. The IGS Radar 8 satellite is expected to serve Japan's military as well as natural disaster monitoring and relief efforts.

September 27th - Long March 2D with Shijian-19

A Long March 2D lifted off from Launch Site 4 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying the Shijian-19 spacecraft to low Earth orbit. Shijian-19 is China's first returnable and reusable satellite and will demonstrate best operational practices ahead of flights of similar spacecraft.

September 28th - Falcon 9 with Crew-9

NASA's Crew-9 mission blasted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at 17:17 pm Universal Coordinated Time with Crew Dragon 'Freedom' atop of a Falcon 9 rocket. On board Crew Dragon 'Freedom' are two astronauts, NASA's Nick Hague and Roscosmos' Aleksandr Gorbunov. Further details about the mission are available here.

In Other Space News

Deep Blue Aerospace performs high-altitude hop test

On September 22nd Deep Blue Aerospace became the second privately-held commercial launch company in China to conduct a high-altitude hop test for development of a reusable launch vehicle. This test was the third from China in 2024 following similar tests from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and LandSpace.

According to the company, the test completed ten of eleven test criteria. This test criteria included ascent with three engines, shut down for two of the engines, descent with one engine firing, and deployment of four landing legs, among others. The only piece of the criteria not completed during the test was a successful soft landing of the test vehicle, as it touched down hard due to an error on landing.

With the hard landing, a small explosion occurred due to the sudden mixing of leftover propellants, resulting in the loss of the vehicle's bottom portion. Despite this Deep Blue Aerospace is currently planning to conduct another hop test in November, with a vehicle already being prepared.

Blue Origin conducts first New Glenn firing

Blue Origin successfully conducted a hot-fire of New Glenn's second-stage on September 24th. This test had the stage loaded with propellant and then ignite the two BE-3U engines, followed by shutdown fifteen-seconds later.

Following the test, Blue Origin announced that it had demonstrated the tank pressurization control system, the thrust vector control system, and the start-up and shut-down sequences for the BE-3U engines. Procedures for future missions were also practiced.

New Glenn's first flight is currently targeting November of this year. More details about the firing and the vehicle's first flight are available here.

Starlink expands onto United & Air France

United Airlines announced back on September 13th that it would begin installing Starlink internet across its fleet of aircraft in 2025. A few weeks later on September 26th Air France announced that it too would begin installing Starlink across its fleet in the near future.

Both airlines have a combined fleet count of over 1,200 aircraft and previously relied on geostationary satellites to provide internet connectivity. The two airlines also boasted about Starlink's ability to provide high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi during flight.

In United Airline's announcement the company's Chief Executive Officer, Scott Kirby, stated the following about the improved experience while flying:

"Everything you can do on the ground, you'll soon be able to do onboard a United plane at 35,000 feet, just about anywhere in the world," – "This connectivity opens the door for an even better inflight entertainment experience, in every seatback – more content, that's more personalized. United's culture of innovation is, once again, delivering big for our customers."

What to Expect Next Week

Starbase

As we have been reporting for the last few weeks, the fifth test flight of SpaceX's Starship-Super Heavy vehicle is still awaiting regulatory approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. This latest flight test requires a change in the flight plan, notably a potential landing of Booster 12 back at the launch site on the launch towers 'chopsticks'. The Federal Aviation Administration is currently not expected to approve this launch until November due to environmental concerns and SpaceX's late submission of information.

Both vehicles for flight five, Booster 12 and Ship 30, are ready for flight pending a possible wet dress rehearsal.

October 2nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-10

A Falcon 9 is expected to launch another batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

Dependent on findings from an anomaly after the launch of Crew-9.

October 4th - Vulcan for Cert-2

United Launch Alliance is expecting to launch Vulcan's second certification flight from Space Launch Complex 41 carrying an inert payload to demonstrate capabilities for the United States Space Force. If successful the vehicle will be allowed to fly sensitive military payloads for the United States' government.