Launch Roundup: Starlink, NRO, and New Shepard missions scheduled

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Another busy week of launches has arrived, with SpaceX dominating the launch manifest with four missions scheduled for the week. Three of these missions will see new batches of Starlink internet satellites launched into the company’s Starlink constellation, with the fourth mission launching a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Blue Origin looks to finally launch its uncrewed NS-35 mission on New Shepard on Thursday after several delays due to issues with vehicle systems. New Shepard will launch over 40 experiments and research payloads into space, as well as thousands of postcards.

Chang Zheng 2C/YZ-1S | Unknown Payload

A Chinese Chang Zheng 2C (CZ-2C) with the optional YZ-1S upper stage is scheduled to launch from Site 9401 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 01:05 UTC. The payload being launched is currently unknown, but regulatory notices indicate that the CZ-2C will fly on a southeast trajectory out of Jiuquan.

The CZ-2C/YZ-1S is a three-stage, 38.83 m tall rocket that utilizes highly toxic nitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine propellants. This mission will mark the 83rd launch of a CZ-2C and 2nd of 2025.

Falcon 9 lifts off from pad SLC-4E at Vandenberg. (Credit: SpaceX)

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-12

The first of three Starlink missions to launch on Falcon 9 this week is Starlink Group 17-12. Scheduled to launch on Wednesday, Sept. 15, at 8:41 AM PDT (15:41 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California, this mission will see a new batch of 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites be deployed into the Group 17 shell.

Falcon 9 will fly on a southwestern trajectory out of Vandenberg to place the satellites in a low-Earth orbit (LEO) inclined 97 degrees. This will be the 11th mission to fly into the Group 17 shell, which has been exclusively launched from SLC-4E.

The booster supporting this mission is B1088, flying for the 10th time. It previously supported the NROL-126, Transporter 12, SPHEREx & PUNCH, NROL-57, and five Starlink missions (Groups 11-13, 15-4, 15-8, 15-7, and 17-5). After liftoff and stage separation, B1088 will reenter Earth’s atmosphere and land on SpaceX’s droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed downrange in the Pacific Ocean.

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-61

The week’s second Starlink mission, Starlink Group 10-61, is scheduled to launch at 5:30 AM EDT (09:30 UTC) on Thursday, Sept. 18, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. Falcon 9 will launch 28 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into the constellation’s Group 10 shell, which is in a 53.16-degree inclination LEO.

After flying the second stage and its payload on a northeastern trajectory out of the Cape, Falcon booster B1092 will land on SpaceX’s droneship Just Read The Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. B1092 will be flying for the seventh time, after supporting the NROL-69, CRS-32, GPS III SV08, USSF-36, and two Starlink missions (Groups 12-13 and 10-34).

New Shepard | NS-35

Blue Origin is looking to finally launch its uncrewed NS-35 New Shepard mission on Thursday, Sept. 18, at 8:00 AM CDT (13:00 UTC) from Launch Site One at the company’s launch facility in West Texas. This comes after several delays due to issues with the booster’s avionics systems. NS-35’s initial launch date was Aug. 23.

New Shepard will fly more than 40 scientific and research payloads briefly beyond the Karman line before returning to Earth. NASA’s TechRise Student Challenge is providing 24 of the mission’s payloads, with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Oklahoma State University, University of Florida, Carthage College, University of Central Florida, Teledyne, Space Lab Technologies, and Teachers in Space supplying other payloads. Thousands of postcards will also be flown for Blue Origin’s nonprofit Club for the Future.

New Shepard is a 19.2 m tall, 3.8 m diameter two-stage suborbital rocket that utilizes liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as propellants. The first stage, a liquid-fueled booster, features a single BE-3 engine that produces 490 kN of thrust. Following main engine cut off and the separation of the first and second stages, the booster reenters Earth’s atmosphere and propulsively lands at a concrete landing pad at the West Texas facility.  The second stage, a capsule, is capable of flying both cargo and crew. After experiencing microgravity for approximately three minutes, the capsule returns to Earth under parachutes and softly touches down in the Texas desert using retro thrusters.

The booster supporting this mission is NS5, the newest New Shepard booster. NS5 will be making its fifth flight on NS-35 after an 81-day turnaround. The capsule flying on NS-35 is the RSS H. G. Wells, which will be making its 12th flight into space. The RSS H. G. Wells first flew in December 2017, and is Blue Origin’s dedicated payload capsule.

This mission will be Blue Origin’s eighth mission of 2025 and New Shepard’s 35th mission overall.

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-27

Scheduled to launch from SLC-40 at the CCSFS on Sunday, Sept. 21, at 5:20 AM EDT (09:20 UTC) is the Starlink Group 10-27 mission. Falcon 9 will launch 28 Starlink v2 Mini satellites northeast out of the Cape into a 53.16-degree inclination LEO.

The booster supporting this mission is B1085, flying for the 11th time. After stage separation, the booster will land atop one of SpaceX’s two east coast droneships, A Shortfall of Gravitas, which will be stationed around 600 km downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.

B1085 has previously supported the launches of the Crew-9, GPS III SV07, Blue Ghost Mission 1, Fram2, SXM-10, and MTG-S1/Sentinel-4A missions, as well as four Starlink missions (Groups 10-5, 6-77, 6-93, and 10-20).

Falcon 9 | NROL-48

SpaceX’s final mission and first customer mission for the week is the NROL-48 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. Launching from SLC-4E at VSFB, liftoff is scheduled for 10:37 AM PDT (17:37 UTC) on Sunday, Sept. 21. Falcon 9 will fly the payload, a batch of Starshield satellites developed by SpaceX for government and military use, southeast out of Vandenberg into an orbit inclined 70 degrees.

Falcon booster B1081 will fly for the 18th time on this mission after a 30-day turnaround. After its initial ascent, the booster will perform a return-to-launch-site landing at SpaceX’s Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4), which is located adjacent to SLC-4E at Vandenberg. This booster began its service on the east coast, launching from both SLC-40 and Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A), before being moved to the west coast in March 2024.

B1081 has previously supported the launches of the Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter 10, EarthCARE, NROL-186, Transporter 13, and TRACERS missions, along with nine Starlink missions (Groups 6-34, 8-1, 9-5, 9-8, 9-10, 9-14, 15-3, 15-6, and 17-6).

This mission will mark SpaceX’s 120th Falcon 9 mission of 2025 and 538th Falcon 9 mission overall.

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

The post Launch Roundup: Starlink, NRO, and New Shepard missions scheduled appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.



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