Two cargo resupply missions are set to launch to the International Space Station this week. A Russian Soyuz will launch the Progress MS-32 spacecraft, followed a few days later by a Falcon 9 carrying Northrop Grumman’s new Cygnus XL vehicle.
In addition to Cygnus XL, Falcon 9 will launch one Starlink mission and two customer missions. Russia and China are also expected to launch satellite missions during the week.
This week’s first customer Falcon 9 launch is now scheduled for Monday, Sept. 8, at 9:32 PM EDT (Tuesday, 01:32 UTC). Controllers have pushed back the launch due to unfavorable weather at the launch site. The Nusantara Lima mission will place an Indonesian high-throughput telecommunications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. The satellite is being launched to replace an earlier version that failed to reach the required orbit following launch aboard a Chinese Chang Zheng 3B rocket in 2020.
Falcon 9 booster B1078 will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida and will fly due east before landing atop the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship.
B1078 will be flying for the 23rd time, having previously supported the Crew-6, O3b mPower 3 & 4, Starlink Group 6-4, Starlink Group 6-8, Starlink Group 6-16, Starlink Group 6-31, USSF-124, Starlink Group 6-46, Starlink Group 6-53, Starlink Group 6-60, Starlink Group 10.2, Starlink Group 10-6, Bluebird-1, Starlink Group 10-13, Starlink Group 6-76, Starlink Group 12-6, Starlink Group 12-9, Starlink Group 12-16, Starlink Group 6-72, Starlink Group 6-84, Starlink Group 12-26, and Starlink Group 10-26 missions. The booster’s first flight was on March 2, 2023.
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 30 flights. The two payload fairings are also recovered and reused after flight.
Chang Zheng 7A | Unknown Payload
A Chang Zheng 7A (CZ-7A) will launch on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 02:00 UTC from LC-201 at Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan, China. The CZ-7A is expected to fly a currently unknown payload due east out of Wenchang.
Standing 58 m tall, the CZ-7A has three stages, with the first stage featuring four strap-on boosters. The first two stages and the four boosters all use liquid oxygen (LOX) and RP-1 propellants, while the third stage burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. This will be the fourth CZ-7A flight of 2025, and the 12th flight of the CZ-7A variant since its debut in 2020.
Falcon 9 | Tranche 1 Transport Layer B
SpaceX will launch the Tranche 1 Transport Layer B mission on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 4:59 AM PDT (11:58 UTC) from Space Launch Complex (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California.
The customer for this mission is the Space Development Agency (SDA), a direct-reporting unit of the U.S. Space Force. This mission serves as the first of six Tranche 1 Transport Layer missions to launch on a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg. Falcon 9 will carry 21 satellites on a due south trajectory towards a polar orbit. SDA’s Transport Layer will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to a full range of warfighter platforms.
Following liftoff, the booster, B1093, will land atop the west coast droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed downrange in the Pacific Ocean. B1093 will be making its sixth flight on this mission, having previously flown five Starlink missions into the Group 11, 15, and 17 shells.
On Thursday, Sept. 11, at 15:54 UTC, a Russian cargo resupply mission, Progress MS-32, will launch to the International Space Station (ISS) from Site 31/6 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. A Progress cargo spacecraft will launch atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket, flying northeast to deliver 7,280 kg of cargo, including food, water, and science experiments, to the orbiting laboratory.
The Soyuz-2.1a is one of three active variants in the Soyuz family of rockets. The first stage consists of four liquid-fueled boosters, which are mounted radially around a central core, which makes up the second stage of the rocket.
A previous Roscosmos Progress cargo spacecraft approaches the International Space Station on July 5, 2025, (Credit: NASA)
Each of the four boosters is powered by an RD-107A engine, burning RG-1 propellant – a highly-refined form of kerosene similar to RP-1 – and liquid oxygen. Each RD-107A is equipped with two smaller vernier engines to assist in controlling the rocket’s flight.
The center core, designated Blok-A, is the second stage of the rocket. It utilizes a single RD-108A engine, derived from the RD-107A, with four vernier engines instead of the two. A single RD-0110 engine powers the third stage.
A second Soyuz will launch on Saturday, Sept. 13, at 02:30 UTC, from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. This mission will utilize the more powerful Soyuz 2.1b with the Fregat-M upper stage to launch a Glosnass-K satellite navigation system payload due east into medium-Earth orbit.
Soyuz 2.1b features a more powerful third stage than Soyuz 2.1a. Four RD-107A engines power Soyuz 2.1b on the first stage (arranged around the second, core stage), a single RD-108A engine on the core stage, and an RD-0124 engine on the third stage. Each stage uses liquid oxygen and liquid kerosene (RP-1) as propellants.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-10
The Starlink Group 17-10 mission will launch on Saturday, Sept. 13, at 8:41 AM PDT (15:41 UTC) from SLC-4E at VSFB in California. Falcon 9 will fly due south to place the payload into a polar Sun-synchronous orbit.
Following the mission, the currently unannounced booster will land atop SpaceX’s east coast droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed downrange in the Pacific Ocean.
A second cargo resupply mission to the ISS will launch on Sunday, Sept. 14, at 8:11:49 PM EDT (22:11:49 UTC). A SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch the first Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL from SLC-40 at CCSFS.
Cygnus XL is being flown to replace the previous Cygnus spacecraft — NG-22 — which was damaged in transit from Northrop Grumman’s facilities to the Kennedy Space Center. The new Cygnus XL is a stretched version of the previous model, allowing for more volume and up to 1,300 kg of additional mass to be transported to the ISS. Built in France and Italy by Thales Alenia Space, the Cygnus XL flying on this mission will be named in honour of naval aviator and astronaut William “Willie” C. McCool.
The booster supporting this mission will be B1094, making its fourth flight. After flying northeast, the booster will separate from the second stage and perform a return-to-launch-site landing at Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2). B1094 first flew on April 29, 2025, supporting Starlink Group 12-10, and has since supported the Axiom Mission 4 and Crew-11 missions.
(Lead image: Falcon 9 launches from Florida. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)
The post Launch Roundup: Cygnus XL and Progress to fly cargo missions to ISS appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.
Comments
Post a Comment