February is set to get off to a busy start with two Chinese launches. A Chinese multistage solid rocket, Jielong-3, will launch from a barge in coastal waters off Yangjiang in the South China Sea on Feb. 2 at around 03:00 UTC. The payload consists of at least five satellites for a rideshare mission, including an interactive art installation venture, led by artists Xu Bing and Beijing Wanhu Creation.
Also on Feb. 2, a Long March 2C rocket is expected to launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China at 23:45 UTC, possibly carrying a Geely Constellation payload, though details are uncertain.
After launching a Falcon 9 from all three of its operational launch pads in less than four days, SpaceX is targeting Feb. 3, at 6:43 PM PST (03:43 UTC), for the next Starlink mission from Vandenberg. SpaceX’s manifest continues with a Falcon 9 scheduled to loft NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission to a Sun-synchronous polar orbit on Feb. 6.
CASC/China Rocket Jielong-3 | Rideshare
Scheduled to launch on Feb. 2 at 02:57 UTC from Bo Run Jiu Zhou Barge, five miles offshore in coastal waters off Yangjiang, Jielong-3 (Smart Dragon-3) is a rideshare mission for China Rocket, a commercial subsidy of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The rocket is a four-stage and all-solid, and the early stages are expected to fall back to the sea in a line due south of the launch site to the west of Australia.
Launch of a Jielong-3. (Credit: CNSA)
While information regarding Chinese payloads can be sparse, the payloads for this mission are known. The first is Shaanxi Zhixing Space Technology Co., Ltd.’s SmartSat-X1, a synthetic aperture radar-equipped spacecraft, which is part of a constellation of 12 satellites built for China Electronics Technology Group Corporation.
Another satellite, SCA-1, is claimed to be the first “art satellite.” The Xu Bing Art Satellite Extraterrestrial Resident Project is led by artists Xu Bing and Beijing Wanhu Creation. Adhering to the concept of participation and sharing, Xu Bing set the concept of this satellite as “inviting domestic and foreign artists to participate in the resident creation of art projects, share the rights and interests of the use of this satellite for free, complete their own works, and jointly explore this extremely futuristic field.”
The satellite has a display screen facing out into space with a selfie camera to enable the output to be viewed. Artists will be invited to participate in trials of the AI software installed to generate images from their input and using data collected by the satellite itself. The special series of space art will eventually be published and exhibited.
The remaining payloads are Xingshidai-18 (Star Times-18), also known as “Rongpiao,” built by China Star Aerospace, as well as possibly Xingshidai-19 and Xingshidai-20.
Orbital launch no. 198 of 2023
SITDS | CAST | Dez 05 | 1924 UTC#China successfully launched a "Satellite Internet Technology Demonstration Satellite" on its solid #SmartDragon3
from a vessel off the coast of Yangjiang, Guangdong province.#Jielong3 pic.twitter.com/9Q8GNhSG1q
— Space Intelligence (@SpaceIntel101) December 6, 2023
CASC Long March 2C | GeeSpace GeeSat
Launching on a Long March 2C rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China on Feb. 2, at 23:45 UTC, this mission will put a further 11 satellites into a constellation for the Geely Technology Group — a Chinese car manufacturer that also builds and launches satellites for use with their self-driving navigation technology. The company launched its initial nine satellites in June 2023.
SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 7-13
Coming only five days after a previous launch from Space Launch Complex (SLC) 4E at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, SpaceX is targeting Feb. 3 at 6:43 PM PST (03:43 UTC) for the launch of its next Starlink mission, Starlink Group 7-13. An expected 22 v2 Mini satellites will be lofted to a 53-degree inclination orbit on a southeastern trajectory. The booster will land on the autonomous droneship “Of Course I Still Love You” downrange in the Pacific Ocean.
The specific booster set to launch the mission is not yet known. The weather forecast for the launch is not yet available, but a large low-pressure weather system is currently passing over California and may cause a delay. Group 7-13 will be the 11th SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of the year, and the 25th orbital launch attempt for the year overall.
Following the launch of Starlink Group 7-13 from Vandenberg, SpaceX will then launch NASA’s PACE Earth-observation mission on Feb. 6 at 1:33 AM EST (06:33 UTC) from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Though the booster for this mission is yet to be confirmed, the booster is expected to perform a return-to-launch-site landing a few miles south of SLC-40 at Landing Zone 1.
According to NASA, PACE “represents the nation’s next great investment in understanding and protecting our home planet. The mission will provide global ocean color, cloud, and aerosol data that will provide unprecedented insights into oceanographic and atmospheric responses to Earth’s changing climate. PACE will help scientists investigate the diversity of organisms fueling marine food webs and the U.S. economy, and deliver advanced data products to reduce uncertainties in global climate models and improve our interdisciplinary understanding of the Earth system.”
The satellite will be launched to a 676.5-kilometer Sun-synchronous polar orbit with a 98-degree inclination with 13:00 local crossing time. The vehicle will be managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.
Rendering of PACE in orbit. (Credit: NASA)
There are three main instruments onboard PACE. The first is the Ocean Color Instrument and two polarimeters — HARP2 and SPEXone. These instruments will allow PACE to provide measurements that enable predictions of the “boom-bust” cycle of fisheries, the appearance of harmful algae, and other factors that affect commercial and recreational industries. What’s more, PACE will observe clouds and tiny airborne particles, known as aerosols, that absorb and reflect sunlight. Many scientists and agencies rely on these key data to forecast weather patterns, visibility, and air quality. PACE will observe the oceans, clouds, and aerosols to better understand their interactions.
Assembly of PACE was completed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in early 2023, after which it was transported to the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in November. NASA and SpaceX technicians mated the craft to the payload adapter on Wednesday, Jan. 24, before it was finally encapsulated into the Falcon 9 fairings and readied for launch.
This launch will be SpaceX’s 12th for 2024. At the current cadence, only 130 or so of the targeted 144 launches will be achieved this year, although the pace is likely to increase as weather conditions improve into the spring and summer months.
(Lead image: NASA’s PACE arrives at the processing center ahead of launch. Credit: NASA)
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