Fast forward to the second half of 2024, the first week of July has already begun with the third launch of Japan’s H3 rocket in the early hours of Monday morning UTC – which we discussed in our previous launch roundup.
The following week continues with two Starlink missions from SpaceX, bringing the number of Starlink satellites launched to more than 6,700. Two more launches from China with the first flight of the year for i-Space’s Hyperbola-1 now moved to Friday, and another mission to Chang Zheng 6A. SpaceX is also preparing to launch the first communications satellite built in Turkey next Monday.
The fifth flight of Firefly’s Alpha launch vehicle was scheduled for the night of Tuesday, July 2 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, but that date has now been pushed back.
This week marks the first anniversary of the last flight of Ariane 5. Its successor, Ariane 6, is now ready for its first launch next week.
Another new vehicle, Space Pioneer’s Tianlong-3, which is expected to make its first launch later this year, suffered a setback on Sunday when part of the vehicle lifted off earlier than expected. During a static fire test, the rocket’s first stage, which uses kerosene and liquid oxygen as a propellant, left the pad and was destroyed after a few seconds of flight, falling from a height of 1.5 km.
Gentlemen. This is apparently what should have been a STATIC FIRE TEST of the first stage of the Chinese Space Pioneer Tianlong-3 today. This is catastrophic, not static. The company was aiming for an orbital launch in the coming months. https://t.co/BY9MgJeE7A pic.twitter.com/L6ronwLW1N
— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) June 30, 2024
The company reported a structural failure in the connection between the rocket and the test stand. This Chinese vehicle is still under development and is similar in height and approach to the Falcon 9 with a reusable first stage.
In the first half of the year, there were a total of 124 orbital launch attempts, with only a few failures, carrying 14 crew members and more than 1,330 payloads into orbit. The US and China accounted for 81% of launches during the six months, with shares of 57% and 24% respectively. SpaceX was responsible for more than half of all orbital launches with 54%. The only other launches flying from the US in the first half of the year were: the last Delta IV Heavy, the first Vulcan Centaur, the recent launch of the Starliner Atlas V shuttle, and the Electron launching a mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.
By comparison, just two years ago, the same number of launches was achieved only with the most recent launch in September, and there were 75 at mid-year. A year ago, the industry had yet to break the 100 mark, with 98 orbital launches by the end of June. With weather-slowing launches recently underway and 67 missions so far, SpaceX is not yet halfway to its ambitious goal of 148 launches by 2024. There’s still time to reach that mark if the company returns to its stated cadence starts. in May with 14 flights per month local time.
Firefly Alpha FLTA005 | ELaNa 43 “Noise of Summer”
Originally scheduled for Wednesday, June 26 at 21:03 PDT (Thursday, June 27 at 04:03 UTC), the 2024 launch date for the first flight of Firefly Aerospace’s two-stage Alpha rocket is now set for 21:03. PDT July 3 (4:03 UTC July 4). The launch attempt on Monday, July 1 was aborted seconds before liftoff due to a problem with the ground support equipment on the launch pad. The mission should launch from SLC-2W at VSFB with a number of CubeSats into orbit.
Firefly has decided to end today’s Alpha #FLTA005 run to give the team more time to evaluate the data and test the systems from the first attempt. We will work closely with the range and our @NASA the customer specifies the next launch window. Stay tuned for more.… pic.twitter.com/1EkcWfl8QD
— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) July 2, 2024
This mission is part of the Venture Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract between NASA and Firefly. The eight CubeSats in the payload include four built by universities, one built by an educational nonprofit, and three built by NASA.
The Venture-class launch services program is designed to provide more frequent and less expensive access to payload space with a higher risk tolerance. Payloads created by educational institutions and non-profit organizations can be selected through NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) to assist such projects, and each flight is assigned an Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) mission name and number, this flight being ELaNa 43.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston flies two R5 satellites, S4 and S2 2.0. These small, free-flying devices are built using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components and are intended to test their suitability as low-cost on-orbit control devices.
NASA Ames Research Center also has a satellite on board – TechEdSat 11 (TES 11) – that includes the latest and largest iteration of the NASA Ames exo-braking experiment, which uses an umbrella-like device to increase drag on a spacecraft and transport it safely. out of orbit faster.
For more information on payload, see our flight article.
Last week, Firefly announced a partnership with the Swedish Space Corporation to jointly launch satellites from the recently inaugurated Esrange Space Center in Sweden, with a goal of the first launch in 2026. Last week, the FAA also added Firefly vehicles to its Space Data Integrator, tracking them in the near future. -in real time during launch operations.
Fleet leader B1062 launched Starlink Group 10-3 from SLC-40 last week SpaceX
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 8-9
The first Starlink mission of the week lifted off from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday, July 3 at 4:55 a.m. EDT (08:55 UTC) near the end of the launch window—the 70th SpaceX launch. year.
The previous launch from this pad, B1062, reached the 22-flight milestone for the first time last week. The pad is approaching its 200th Falcon 9 launch soon, though maybe not this month, 196 have launched from the site to date, including this mission.
The booster for this mission was B1073 on its 16th flight. It has previously supported launches including Bandwagon-1, CRS-27, Hakuto-R, Amazonas Nexus, SES-22 and 10 Starlink missions. Booster landed on an autonomous drone Lack of gravity, who had 75 touchdowns and fumble recoveries before this one. This is the booster that suffered a rare ignition interruption during the Starlink Group 10-2 launch attempt in mid-June, which subsequently caused the mission to slip past Astra 1P and be launched with an alternate booster, B1078.
With this mission, the company has launched over 6,700 Starlink satellites to date. Earlier this week, SpaceX launched 6,698 of which 477 re-entered and 5,232 moved into their operational orbit. The company last week added Madagascar to a long list of more than 100 countries that now have access to high-speed, low-latency internet service.
Chang Zheng 6A ahead of Yunhai-3 02 launch in March 2024 (Credit: CASC/CCTV)
Chang Zheng 6A | Unknown payload
Chang Zheng 6A is scheduled to launch from LC-9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China on Thursday, July 4 at 23:00 UTC.
This will be the third launch for this two-stage type of vehicle, which has been active since 2022 and is capable of lifting 5,000 kg into orbit with the help of four side boosters. A variant of the CZ-6C with one lever debuted this May.
The payload will likely be unknown until after launch. One possibility is the third in the Yunhai-3 series of satellites, which are said to be used for atmospheric, oceanic and environmental research. The same type of vehicle carried the second in this series in early March and the first in late 2022.
Hyperbola-1 | Unknown payload
Launch is expected from Site 95A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China on Friday, July 5 at 23:40 UTC. Hyperbola-1, also known locally as Shuang Quxian-1 or SQX-1, is a four-stage solid-propellant rocket guided by liquid-propellant attitude control engines. It will be the seventh flight for this type of vehicle so far.
Hyperbola-1, which took off for the first time five years ago this month, has a 50% success rate after some problems on its first flights, such as jammed fuel valves and failure to separate payload fairings. However, the last two missions have been successful, delivering a mock payload and subsequently a prototype renewable experimental DEAR-1 spacecraft into sun-synchronous orbit last December. Beijing-based i-Space has become the first Chinese private company to achieve orbit on the first flight of a vehicle.
With a length of less than 21 m and a diameter of 1.4 m, the vehicle can carry up to 300 kg into low Earth orbit. Details of the payload and its destination have not yet been released before launch.
Hyperbola-1 before the launch of DEAR-1 in December 2023 (Credit CCTV)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 9-3
The second Starlink mission is scheduled for this week, launching from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Center in California on Saturday, July 6 at 8:33 PM PDT (July 7, 03:33 UTC). While the booster has yet to be announced, it is expected to land on an autonomous drone, Of course I still love you waiting approximately 600 km down.
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Türksat 6A
The launch of the first large communications satellite built in Turkey is scheduled for Monday, July 8 at 17:20 EDT (21:20 UTC) from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The communications satellite will be launched into a geosynchronous transfer orbit on its way to a geostationary orbit at an altitude of 35,786 km above the equator, located at 42 degrees east longitude. The booster and autonomous drone supporting this mission have yet to be confirmed.
The approximately 4,250 kg onboard propulsion satellite is equipped with 20 Ku-band transponders and 3 X-band transponders. It will provide data transmission for commercial, civil and military communications in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and much of Asia.
Türksat 6A after construction and testing in March, before being sent to Florida (Credit: TÜBİTAK UZAY / Turkish Century)
The Türksat 6A project began nearly a decade ago, and the main contractor, TÜBİTAK UZAY, said its reach would cover 118 countries and up to 4.5 billion people.
(Main image: Falcon 9 launch (Credit – Julia Bergeron for NSF)