Launch Roundup: Vulcan and Electron to launch between Falcon 9 missions

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Four rockets are scheduled to launch from the U.S. this week. SpaceX is planning to launch a plethora of internet satellites, with two Starlink missions and one mission for Amazon’s Project Kuiper on the company’s launch manifest. United Launch Alliance is also expected to launch a navigation technology demonstrator and a classified Space Force payload atop the most powerful configuration of the company’s new Vulcan rocket.

Internationally, in New Zealand, Rocket Lab will continue its rapid launch cadence with the launch of an Electron carrying an Earth observation satellite.

Electron | The Harvest Goddess Thrives

The first launch of the week is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 03:45 UTC. A Rocket Lab Electron will launch a 100 kg payload into low Earth orbit (LEO) from Launch Complex 1B (LC-1B) at the company’s launch facility on the Mãhia Peninsula in New Zealand.

This will be Electron’s 11th mission of 2025, and the 69th Electron mission in total.

This mission, the fourth of eight for Japanese Satellite company iQPS, will deploy a single Q-shu Pioneers of Space – Synthetic Aperture Radar (QPS-SAR) satellite. The mission is named “The Harvest Goddess Thrives,” or KUSHINADA-I, for the Japanese goddess of harvest and prosperity. Electron will deliver QPS-SAR-12 to a 575 km circular Earth orbit, where it will become part of the QPS-SAR constellation, providing high-resolution synthetic aperture radar images and Earth monitoring services globally.

Electron is a two-stage rocket with an optional kick stage. The first stage features nine Rutherford sea-level engines, each producing 21 kN of thrust at liftoff and peaking at 25 kN (5,600 lbf) in flight. The second stage includes a Rutherford vacuum engine that produces 25.8 kN (5,800 lbf) of thrust. Both variants of Rutherford are powered by electric pumps instead of traditional gas turbines. The kick stage utilizes an unspecified bi-propellant fuel-powered Curie engine. Both the Rutherford and Curie engines are largely 3D-printed, and the two main stages are of a carbon-composite construction.

Falcon 9 | Project Kuiper (KF-02)

The first Falcon 9 launch for this week is scheduled to launch on Thursday, Aug. 7, at 10:01 AM EDT (14:01 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the  Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. Falcon 9 will deliver another batch of 24 Project Kuiper internet satellites into LEO, marking the second launch by Falcon 9 for Project Kuiper.

The first Project Kuiper mission launched in October 2023 with two prototype satellites launching aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V. Seventy-eight production satellites have since launched aboard both Atlas V and Falcon 9 rockets.

A new Falcon 9 booster, B1091, will be supporting this mission. Following stage separation, the booster will land on one of SpaceX’s east coast droneships, A Shortfall of Gravitas.

Falcon 9 is a 3.9 m diameter, 70 m tall two-stage rocket. Nine Merlin 1D engines power the first stage booster, while the second stage utilizes a single vacuum-optimized Merlin engine. Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are the first and only reusable orbital rockets in service today, with one Falcon booster having flown 29 flights. The two payload fairings are also recovered and reused after flight.

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-4

A SpaceX Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch on Saturday, Aug. 9, at 7:05 PM PDT (Sunday, 02:05 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The fourth batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink constellation’s polar shell will fly due south to be delivered into Sun-synchronous orbit.

After the launch and stage separation, booster B1093 will land on SpaceX’s west coast droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed downrange in the Pacific Ocean.

B1093, which will be making its fifth flight, was first flown on April 7, 2025, on the Starlink Group 11-11 mission. The booster has also supported the Starlink Group 15-5, Starlink Group 15-9, and Starlink Group 15-2 missions.

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-20

A Falcon 9 will launch from SLC-40 at CCSFS on Sunday, Aug. 10, at 8:16 AM EDT (12:16 UTC). Starlink Group 10-20 will launch atop booster B1085 and will fly northwest, carrying a payload of 28 satellites for insertion into LEO.

B1085 will be making its tenth flight, having previously supported the Starlink Group 10-5, Crew-9, Starlink Group 6-77, GPS III-7, Blue Ghost Mission 1 & HAKUTO-R M2, Fram2, Starlink Group 6-93, SXM-10, and MTG-S1/Sentinel-4A missions. The booster’s first flight was on Aug. 20, 2024.

After launch, the booster will land atop the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed approximately 640 km downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. The droneship will be returned to Port Canaveral, where the booster will be offloaded to be prepared for its next flight.

Vulcan VC4S | USSF-106 (NTS-3 & Others)

Vulcan’s first launch of 2025 is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 10, at 8:07 PM EDT (Monday, August 11, at 00:07 UTC). The United States Space Force 106 (USSF-106) and NTS-3 payloads will be delivered into geosynchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at the CCSFS in Florida.

NTS-3 is a technology demonstration navigation satellite with an experimental signal generator that is designed to be reprogrammed on-orbit to improve performance, overcome interference, and defend from countermeasure attacks. A classified USSF payload will also be launched on this mission.

Vulcan is ULA’s expendable heavy-lift rocket with twin BE-4 main engines and, in this mission’s VC4S configuration, four side-mounted GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters. Standing at 61.6 m in height and 5.4 m in diameter, the two-stage rocket can lift 11,693 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit.

This will be Vulcan’s first mission of 2025, and its third mission in total. This will also be ULA’s third mission of 2025.

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

The post Launch Roundup: Vulcan and Electron to launch between Falcon 9 missions appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.



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