Weekly Dose of Space (24/11-30/11)
Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had eleven orbital launches taking place, with two new rocket debuts. News this week had a lunar lander preparing for launch and SpaceX winning yet another launch contract. 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 November 25th when teams were spotted painting the launch towers 'chopsticks'. That night also had the 'chopsticks' raised near their maximum height, the following morning of the 26th the 'chopsticks' were still near the top of the tower. The evening of the 26th also had Ship 26's nosecone moved out of one of the high bays, as the vehicle is now being scrapped.
More parts of Ship 26 were spotted leaving the high bays on November 27th, most of the vehicle will likely end up in a scrapyard. The 27th also had a brand new LR11000 crane rise for the first time. This crane will be used to assist in constructing the second launch pad at Starbase.
With SpaceX's efforts to consolidate Starship manufacturing within its gigantic factory at Starbase in recent months, very little hardware work was spotted in the remainder of the week. The next flight of Starship-Super Heavy is however expected in early January, which we will touch on later.
Launches This Week
November 24th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 9-13
A Falcon 9 launch began this weeks launches with it lifting off from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying a batch of twenty Starlink satellites. The booster supporting this launch was B1075 for its fifteenth flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.
November 24th - HASTE with Leidos
Rocket Lab conducted a HASTE launch from Launch Complex 2, in Virginia, believed to be on behalf of Leidos and Dynetics. HASTE, Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron, is a suborbital version of the company's Electron launch vehicle.
November 24th - Long March 2C with Siwei Gaojing-2 03 & 04
A Long March 2C lifted off from Launch Area 4 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying two Siwei Gaojing-2 satellites to low Earth orbit for China Siwei Survey and Mapping Technology. The two satellites will provide all-day, all-weather, high-resolution imagery via the use of a phased array radar instrument.
November 25th - Electron for 'Ice AIS Baby'
Rocket Lab conducted another Electron launch from Launch Complex 1B, in New Zealand on the Māhia Peninsula, carrying five satellites to low Earth orbit for Kinéis. The satellites are for Kinéis' planned twenty-five spacecraft Internet of Things constellation. Further details on this launch are available here.
November 25th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-1
Another Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying twenty-three Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1080 for its thirteenth flight and landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.
November 27th - Zhuque-2E with Guangchuan 01 & 02
LandSpace debuted its upgraded Zhuque-2E launch vehicle with a mission from Launch Area 96A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Two Guangchuan satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit to test inter-satellite communications. More details about this rocket are available here.
November 27th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-76
A batch of twenty-four Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida. This mission was supported by booster B1078, making its fifteenth flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas'.
November 29th - Soyuz 2.1a with Kondor-FKA No. 2
A Soyuz 2.1a lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome carrying the Kondor-FKA N0. 2 satellite into sun-synchronous orbit. Kondor-FKA N0. 2 is a civilian Earth observation satellite with a resolution between 1 to 30 meters, depending on the imaging mode.
November 30th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-65
Another Falcon 9 carried a batch of twenty-four Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40. Supporting this mission was booster B1083, making its sixth flight, and landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.
November 30th - Falcon 9 for NROL-126
Falcon 9 also launched the NROL-126 mission from Space Launch Complex 4E carrying what was likely a batch of Starshield satellites, the military version of Starlink. The booster for this mission was brand new and is believed to be B1088.
November 30th - Long March 12 for its debut mission
The Long March 12, developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, made its debut flight at the end of November, flying from Commercial Launch Pad 2 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site into low Earth orbit. Two satellites were also onboard for the debut flight, with them being Satellite Internet Technology Test Satellite and Technology Test Satellite 03. More details about this rocket are available here.
In Other Space News
This newsletter was written with November's Monthly Dose of Space, as such these stories also appear there.
Firefly prepares for first lunar mission
Firefly Aerospace announced on November 25th that its Blue Ghost lunar lander had successfully completed environmental testing ahead of its first mission. That mission is currently expected to launch in mid-January of 2025 atop of a Falcon 9.
Environmental testing of Blue Ghost took place a few weeks ago in mid-October at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, subjecting the vehicle to a vacuum environment and extreme heat. Firefly's Chief Executive Officer, Jason Kim, commented on the testing and mission ahead saying:
“Blue Ghost aced environmental testing and proved the lander is performing 100% as expected, which is a testament to the incredible Firefly team,” – “This team has gone above and beyond with innovative testing approaches to ensure Blue Ghost is flight ready. While we know there will be more challenges ahead, I’m confident this team has what it takes to softly touch down on the lunar surface and nail this mission.”
Blue Ghost's first mission has been named 'Ghost Riders in the Sky' by Firefly with it carrying ten payloads for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. The mission is planned to last sixty days, spending forty-five days heading to the Moon and fourteen days operating on the surface in Mare Crisium. This mission will end a few hours after the lunar night begins due to the incredibly cold temperatures.
Falcon Heavy to launch Dragonfly in 2028
SpaceX was awarded a launch contract, on November 25th, for Falcon Heavy to launch NASA's Dragonfly mission in July 2028. This launch will have Falcon Heavy send the spacecraft to Saturn's moon Titan via an Earth gravity assist.
The launch contract for Dragonfly has a value of 256.6 million United States Dollars. Part of this cost is related to certifying Falcon Heavy to carry the spacecraft's nuclear radioisotope thermoelectric generator, which will be used to generate power within Titan's thick atmosphere.
Dragonfly will be unlike all other NASA exploration missions as the spacecraft will fly around Titan, visiting various sites to perform science. NASA hopes to characterize the habitability of Titan’s environment, investigate the progression of prebiotic chemistry on Titan, and search for chemical indications of whether water-based or hydrocarbon-based life once existed on Titan.
NASA currently expects Dragonfly to arrive on Titan in 2034.
What to Expect Next Week
Starbase
SpaceX 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 2nd - Long March 6A with a to-be-announced payload
A Long March 6A is expected to liftoff from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The payload is currently unknown but it is rumored to be the third batch of eighteen satellites for the Qianfan mega-constellation.
December 3rd - Long March 3B/E with a to-be-announced payload
A Long March 3B/E is expected to liftoff from Launch Complex 2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, carrying an unknown payload. This will be the 100th flight of the Long March 3B rocket too.
December 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 9-14
SpaceX is expecting to launch a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E carrying a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.
December 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-70
Another batch of Starlink satellites will be delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40.
December 4th - PSLV with Proba-3
The Indian Space Research Organisation's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL rocket is planned to launch 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 Sirius SXM-9
A Falcon 9 is expected to launch from Launch Complex 39A carrying the SXM-9 satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit for SiriusXM. The spacecraft will be used to allow SiriusXM's programming to reach its customers.
December 7th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-2
Falcon 9 will carry another batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E.
