Last week was good for SpaceX as its Starship rocket almost failed during testing, unfortunately, it caught fire and exploded on the block. Rocket Lab also had to postpone its “They Go Up So Fast” mission which we included this week in Rocket Launches # 2 but we’ll take another look at this week.
In addition to the Rocket Lab mission to orbit several satellites, two SpaceX launches will carry more satellites for the Starlink constel as well as a Chinese mission carrying an experimental satellite called Xin Jishu Yanzheng 6 that will replace satellite lost last year.
The Rocket Lab launch will be showcased by one of its Electron rockets, it carries a Blacksky Global satellite and several CubeSats called Centauri 3, Gunsmoke-J, M2 (A / B), Myriota 7, and Veery Hatchling. Electric rockets are very light, weighing just 12,500 kg; perhaps this is where the inspiration for the name of the mission came from. The announcement will be broadcast live on the company ‘s website on or around Wednesday if the announcement is made.
On Wednesday and Saturday, SpaceX will launch Falcon 9 rockets, each carrying 60 Starlink satellites. Internally, the missions are called Starlink V1.0-L20 and Starlink V1.0-L21 and have a total payload of 15.6 tons per satellite weighing 260 kg. There are 1141 Starlink satellites in orbit but the company plans to orbit closer to 10,000 satellites before bringing the number up above 30,000 so that we can see these orbits for a long time. To check out these shows, check out SpaceX’s YouTube channel which will have recordings in case you miss the live events.
Prior to the launch of the second SpaceX event, China will launch their CZ-7A Long March carrying Xin Jishu Yanzheng 6 satellite. The satellite is experimental and part of a series of demonstration missions that the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) doing. As is usual with Chinese shows, video and photos of the release will appear online after the release but there is unlikely to be a live stream.
There are plenty more rocket launches launching each week for the rest of the month so be sure to check out for next week ‘s Rocket Launches (TWIRL).