A busy week ahead will see seven launches from five different rockets from across the world. SpaceX will launch three missions on its workhorse Falcon 9, while a Russian Soyuz will carry three new crew members to the International Space Station from Kazakhstan.
A Russian military payload will launch atop an Angara 1.2 from northern Russia, and South Korea will launch a satellite aboard its KSLV-2 rocket. Ending out the week, a Vega C will carry a South Korean satellite to a Sun-synchronous orbit from French Guiana.
The week started with the launch of an Angara 1.2 on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 13:00 UTC from Site 35/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. Angara launched a military payload into a low-Earth orbit (LEO) on a northeastern trajectory. This mission marked the seventh flight of an Angara 1.2 and the third of 2025.
Angara 1.2 is a two-stage rocket that stands 42.7 m tall and 2.9 m in diameter. The first stage features a single RD-191 engine powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene. The second stage utilizes a single RD-0124A engine powered by the same propellants as the first stage.
South Korea is scheduled to launch a Korean Satellite Launch Vehicle 2 (KSLV-2) rocket from Launch Complex 2 at the Naro Space Center in South Korea on Wednesday, Nov. 26. Liftoff is expected at 15:54 UTC, with the KSLV-2 lofting the Compact Advanced Satellite 500-3 (CAS500-3) satellite to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). CAS500-3 is a space technology verification and Earth observation research satellite. Riding to SSO alongside CAS500-3 will be 12 cubesats, bringing the total payload mass to approximately 500 kg.
KSLV-2, also known as the “Nuri,” is a three-stage rocket manufactured by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). All three stages of the KSLV-2 utilize Jet A and liquid oxygen propellants. The rocket stands 47.5 m in height and 3.5 m in diameter. This mission will mark the fourth flight of a KSLV-2, and the first of 2025.
The first Falcon 9 mission of the week is expected to launch on Wednesday, Nov. 26, at 10:18 AM PST (18:18 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California. Falcon 9 will launch the Transporter 15 rideshare mission, which will carry multiple payloads into SSO on a southerly trajectory out of VSFB. SpaceX is targeting the opening of a 57-minute launch window.
Introducing LEO Express 3, launching soon on the Transporter-15 rideshare mission with @SpaceX.
Mira is flying its third mission, debuting the first vehicle in the upgraded spacecraft line. Building on the success of the LEO Express 1 and 2 missions, LEO Express 3 expands Mira’s… pic.twitter.com/JDzi92VeW5
— Impulse Space (@GoToImpulse) November 4, 2025
Included among the payloads is Impulse Space’s upgraded version of the Mira spacecraft, LEO Express 3, which is also a rideshare spacecraft. LEO Express 3 leverages Mira’s high thrust and high maneuverability to deliver customers’ small satellites to precise orbits.
Falcon booster B1071 will support Transporter 15 on its 30th mission, making it the second Falcon booster to achieve 30 flights. B1071 is the second most flown booster after B1067, which made its 31st flight on Oct. 19. Following launch and stage separation, B1071 will land on SpaceX’s west coast droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed approximately 640 km downrange in the Pacific Ocean. The booster will be returned to port in Long Beach.
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 orbital rockets to achieve regular re-use, with several Falcon boosters having flown over 20 flights. The two payload fairings are also recovered and reused after flight.
Soyuz 2.1a launches Soyuz MS-27 to the ISS in April 2025. (Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky)
The second Russian mission of the week will see a Soyuz 2.1a rocket launch on Thursday, Nov. 27, at 09:27 UTC from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Soyuz 2.1a will launch the Soyuz MS-28 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), flying on a northwestern trajectory to execute a 24-hour rendezvous and docking with the ISS at 12:38 UTC on Nov. 28.
The crew of Soyuz MS-28 consists of Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, and NASA astronaut Christopher Williams. Kud-Sverchkov will serve as Soyuz MS-28’s commander. The mission will mark the final flight to the Station as part of Expedition 73, with Expedition 74 expected to begin with the undocking of Soyuz MS-27 in early December. The three Soyuz MS-28 crew members are expected to remain on the ISS for eight months.
The Soyuz 2 rocket has two major variants: Soyuz 2.1a, the base version, and Soyuz 2.1b, which uses a more powerful third stage. Four RD-107A engines power Soyuz 2.1a on the first stage (arranged around the second, core stage), with a single RD-108A engine on the core stage, and an RD-0110 engine on the third stage. Each stage uses liquid oxygen and liquid kerosene (RP-1) propellants.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 15-10
The first Starlink mission of the week is scheduled to launch on Sunday, Nov. 30, at 6:59 PM PST (02:59 UTC). Falcon 9 will launch from SLC-4E at the VSFB in California and fly southeast into a 70-degree inclination LEO.
Following ascent and stage-separation, booster B1081 will land atop Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed downrange in the Pacific Ocean. This mission will mark B1081’s 20th flight.
Arianespace is expected to launch a Vega C rocket on Sunday, Nov. 30, at 17:21 UTC from L’Ensemble de lancement Vega (ELV) at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. Vega C will launch KOMPSAT-7, a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite to be operated by the Korea Aerospace Administration in South Korea.
Vega C launches from Kourou, French Guiana. (Credit: Arianespace)
The 1,750 kg mass satellite will be inserted into a 505 km SSO, and features multiple SAR modes ranging from 0.5 m VHR to 20 m wide-swath coverage. Furthermore, KOMPSAT-7 will utilize the Advanced Earth Imaging Sensor System with High Resolution (AEISS-HR) camera, which provides 30 cm resolution in panchromatic mode, 1.2 m resolution in color mode, and four-meter resolution in infrared mode.
Vega C is a four-stage rocket standing at 35 m tall and 3.4 m in diameter. The first three stages utilize solid rocket motors, while the fourth stage (also known as the AVUM stage) features an RD-843 engine with unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) and dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) propellants.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-86
Ending out the week, a second Starlink mission — Starlink Group 6-86 — will launch atop Falcon 9 on Monday, Dec. 1, at 12:00 AM EST (Monday, 05:00 UTC) from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Falcon booster B1095 will support the mission, flying for just the fourth time. B1095 will lift 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into LEO on a southeasterly trajectory before landing atop the Just Read The Instructions droneship in the Atlantic.
This mission will mark the 572nd Falcon 9 mission of all time, and the 154th mission of 2025. Furthermore, Starlink Group 6-86 will serve as the 285th orbital launch attempt worldwide in 2025.
(Lead Image: A Falcon 9 launches Starlink Group 6-78 from Florida. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)
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