Launch Roundup: SpaceX launches cargo resupply mission to ISS, Roscosmos and Rocket Lab set for launches

This week gets off to a flying start when new science experiments and cargo will launch to the International Space Station (ISS) and Roscosmos has launched ionospheric research satellites. Rocket Lab will also launch its Electron rocket on the company’s quickest turnaround mission to date this week. Following a scrub of Sunday’s Starlink mission just seconds before ignition, up to three Starlink missions could now fly this week.

As we enter the final two months of the year, more spaceflight milestones continue to be achieved by SpaceX, Rocket Lab and other agencies around the globe. SpaceX launched its 200th Starlink mission on Oct. 30 with the Starlink 9-9 mission, and Roscosmos launched the year’s 200th orbital launch worldwide a day later with the Cosmos 2579 mission. This is only the second time in history that the worldwide launch count has surpassed 200 launches in a single year, with this week beginning at 170 flights worldwide in 2023. Rocket Lab, meanwhile, is close to lofting its 200th payload, with this week’s confidential launch raising the count to 198 total payloads.

SpaceX is continuing to launch Falcon missions at a rapid pace and is looking to achieve 135 total launches in 2024 by the end of the year. This number is lower than the declared goal of 148, though, with a series of unexpected setbacks during the latter half of this year leading to the grounding of Falcon 9 on several occasions. However, SpaceX has continued to push the limits of what an aerospace company can do and launched two Falcon 9 missions within three hours of each other from both coasts of the U.S. just last week. Additionally, the company surpassed 100 launches in a single year for the first time last month and proceeded to launch another Falcon 9 just over two hours later.

While 56% of launches so far this year have been from U.S. launch sites, China has now passed its 50th launch of the year but, like SpaceX, will fall short of the rumored 100 launch goal, which will be far less ambitious to reach next year. Together, the U.S. and China account for 82% of all worldwide launches this year, with 16 crewed missions and over 1,330 payloads being launched.

Ionosfera-M’s integration with Soyuz fairing. (Credit: Vostochny Space Center)

Soyuz 2.1b / Fregat-M | Ionosfera-M No.1 & 2

Launching from Site 1S at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur region of Russia, a Soyuz 2.1b carried two satellites into Sun-synchronous orbit on Monday, Nov. 4, at 23:18 UTC. The pair will form one-half of a four-satellite Ionosfera-M constellation, operating at around 800 km in altitude in two orbital planes. The ionospheric and magnetospheric satellites are intended to improve our understanding of geomagnetic and solar storms through the observation of Earth’s ionosphere.

Operated by Roscosmos, each of the research satellites carries eight instruments, including two plasma energy spectrometers, galactic cosmic ray and gamma ray spectrometers, and an ozonometer-TM shortwave sounder, which measures the intensity of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Also onboard is a magnetometer, which will measure oscillations in both magnetic and electric fields from low-Earth orbit, and a magnetospheric energetic particle sensor, or PES. Using both the U.S.’s GPS and Russia’s GLONASS global navigation satellite systems, the PES will study the concentration and altitude distribution of electrons in Earth’s upper atmosphere using radio occultation.

Nanolab Astrobeat computer prior to assembly, which will power cold welding research. (Credit:
Malta College of Arts, Science & Technology/Leonardo Barilaro)

Falcon 9 Block 5 | SpX CRS-31

A new way to repair the hull of a spacecraft from the inside out is one of several science experiments joining the next shipment of cargo supplies headed to the ISS on Monday, Nov. 4. Launch is scheduled from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center at 9:29 PM EST (02:29 UTC on Nov. 5) and will be the 31st mission to launch as part of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with SpaceX. Crew Dragon Freedom relocated on Sunday morning from the front-facing port to the space-facing zenith port of the Harmony module in readiness for Cargo Dragon C208 to dock at the Station.

The Astrobeat project, sponsored by the ISS National Lab, will test cold welding in microgravity, which is hoped to lead to the development of a low-temperature repair method. The experiment will endeavor to apply metal patches to a simulation of a spacecraft hull using the application of pressure rather than heat, meaning less force is needed to fuse metallic materials together in space. The research could also provide useful repair techniques that can be applied on Earth, but the experiment’s focus is on the potential to repair impacts to the outer hull of a spacecraft from micrometeoroids or space debris, which can compromise crew safety.

CRS-31 will carry additional science experiments alongside Astrobeat, including the Coronal Diagnostic Experiment (CODEX) experiment. CODEX will use a coronagraph to block out a majority of light from the Sun, allowing the experiment to study the solar corona to better understand the formation, heating, and acceleration of solar wind. What’s more, the NASA-sponsored ARTEMOSS project will test whether samples of Antarctic moss recover from exposure to microgravity and cosmic radiation. These experiments help to inform deep space missions and the kinds of plants that will tolerate these deep space conditions.

Another ISS National Lab-sponsored project by Bristol Meyers Squibb will test how microgravity crystallizes proteins more effectively to assist in developing innovative medicines. Two small-molecule compounds will be studied in different conditions to improve the size and morphology of crystals using Redwire’s triple-contained Pharmaceutical In-space Laboratory PIL-BOX. The crystallization process helps stabilize proteins and is expected to help develop suspension formulations that could be administered at home rather than at a medical center.

Falcon 9 booster B1083-4 is supporting this mission on its fifth flight and is expected to return to land on the concrete pad at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1). This booster has previously launched missions to the ISS, carrying NASA’s Crew-8 crewed mission to the orbiting laboratory on its maiden flight and the private Polaris Dawn mission most recently.

Electron is transported to the pad at LC-1B ahead of the Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes mission. (Credit: Rocket Lab)

Electron Curie | Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes

Rocket Lab is now targeting Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 11:30 PM NZDT (10:30 UTC) for the launch of the Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes mission. Electron will launch a confidential payload for an undisclosed customer from Launch Complex 1B (LC-1B) at the company’s launch site at the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. This mission has been delayed since the initial launch date of Oct. 19, as Rocket Lab decided to take extra time to perform final checkouts of Electron and the confidential payload.

This will be Electron’s 12th mission of the year. Electron will fly a southwesterly trajectory to place the payload into a Sun-synchronous orbit, and Electron’s longer payload fairing is expected to be utilized on this mission.

Rocket Lab noted this mission will be its fastest turnaround to date, launching within two months of signing the contract with the unknown customer. The mission is suspected to be contracted with E-Space, which was granted authorization to launch from New Zealand in late September. This company was founded by innovator Greg Wyler, who previously founded 03b and OneWeb and is currently focusing on developing Constellations as a Service (CaaS).

This mission’s Electron will be the first to launch from LC-1B since the “A Sky Full of SARs” mission in early August. To date, 197 satellites have been launched on 53 Electron rockets.

22 Starlinks are deployed on the Starlink Group 10-8 mission. (Credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-77

Falcon 9 and booster B1085 are scheduled to loft the Starlink Group 6-77 batch of 23 Starlink v2 Mini satellites on Tuesday, Nov 5, at 4:27 PM EST (21:27 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Currently the youngest active core booster in the fleet, B1085 previously carried Crew-9 to the ISS and took its maiden voyage in August with the Starlink 10-5 mission. The booster is expected to land on the autonomous droneship Just Read The Instructions, which will be stationed approximately 600 km southeast of the Cape.

This mission was rescheduled following a scrub on Sunday’s launch attempt just moments before liftoff when a “hold” call led to an automatic scrub. The use of cryogenic propellants meant there was no option to recycle, and SpaceX has since indicated there was a helium issue with the booster.

Lijian 1 | Unknown Payload

Heading to orbit on its third mission of the year, CAS Space’s Lijian 1, also known as the Kinetica 1, is expected to launch from Site 130 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Thursday, Nov. 7, at 04:05 UTC during a 21-minute launch window. This will be the fifth flight of the four-stage launch vehicle, which uses solid propellants and measures 31 m high with a 3.35 m diameter fairing. CAS Space was recently awarded one of two commercial cargo supply contracts to service the Tiangong Space Station. Its new cargo craft, QingZhou, is expected to launch next September on the company’s Lijian-2 rocket, which is still in development.

Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 9-10

The week’s second Starlink mission is scheduled to launch from SLC-4E at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 11:00 PM PST (07:00 UTC on Nov. 7). The payload is expected to include 20 Starlink v2 Mini satellites, 13 of which are the Direct-to-Cell variant. The satellites will maneuver into an orbit inclined 53 degrees at 535 km altitude.

The booster supporting this mission has not yet been announced, but is expected to land downrange on SpaceX’s west coast droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed to the southeast of Vandenberg

Just over a week ago, SpaceX celebrated four years since first activating the Starlink service for paying customers and now services over four million customers worldwide with its high-speed connectivity.

Starlink satellites pic.twitter.com/a2xXq1DCV7

— Dima Zeniuk (@DimaZeniuk) November 2, 2024

Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 6-69

The Starlink Group 6-69 mission will send the 65th batch of Group 6 Starlink satellites into the Starlink Group 6 shell, which serves as the largest of the constellation’s satellite shells. Liftoff is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 7, at 6:46 PM EST (22:46 UTC) from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The booster supporting this mission has yet to be confirmed and is expected to land on one of SpaceX’s two autonomous droneships approximately eight minutes into the mission after flying on a southeasterly trajectory. This will be the company’s 107th Falcon 9 mission of the year and will bring the company six flights from its 400th Falcon 9 mission.

Chang Zheng 2C | Unknown Payload

A Chang Zheng 2C (CZ-2C) rocket is expected to launch from Site 9401, also known as SLS-2, of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 03:40 UTC. The payload onboard has not been confirmed but is suspected to include the second Zhongyuan satellite and three Hebi satellites headed into the Nuwa Constellation, which will complement the three Hebi satellites that were previously launched in March 2023 from Taiyuan.

Render of the Koreasat-6a satellite. (Credit: Thales Alenia Space)

Falcon 9 Block 5 | Koreasat 6A

The Koreasat 6A mission will see Falcon 9 launch a replacement for the Koreasat 6 satellite, which was launched into a geostationary transfer orbit in 2010. Liftoff is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 11, at 12:07 PM EST (17:07 UTC) from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The booster, which is not yet known, will return to land on the concrete pad at either LZ-1 or LZ-2.

Built and designed by Thales Alenia Space, Koreasat 6A will have a lifespan of around 15 years and a mass of approximately 3,500 kg. The satellite, which arrived at Port Canaveral in mid-September, will meet the ever-growing demand in the Asia Pacific region for data communication, delivering both a broadcasting satellite service (BSS) and fixed satellite service (FSS).

Operator KT-SAT is South Korea’s leading satellite service provider and announced last year that the mission would also include a system to improve the continuity and availability of the Korea Augmentation Satellite System (KASS). The upgrade will reduce the 15 m to 30 m GPS positioning accuracy to closer to one meter.

(Lead image: Falcon 9 launches from Florida. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)

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