As NASA’s Artemis II mission reaches its halfway point, the launch manifest on Earth continues to stay busy, with eight launches scheduled for the week of April 6th. SpaceX is expected to launch four Falcon 9s this week, including three Starlink missions and the NG-24 mission to the International Space Station. A Northrop Grumman Minotaur IV is also scheduled to launch from California on Tuesday morning.
Internationally, three Chinese rockets are set to launch from three different Chinese launch sites. A Chang Zheng 8 and Chang Zheng 6A are expected to launch from Wenchang and Taiyuan, respectively, while a Jielong 3 will launch from a platform in the South China Sea.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-35
SpaceX’s first Starlink mission of the week is set to fly on Monday, April 6, at 7:49 PM PDT (02:49 UTC on April 7) from Space Launch Complex-4E (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California. A previous launch attempt on Sunday, April 5, was scrubbed due to upper-level wind shear.
Falcon booster B1103 will make its first flight and follow a southwesterly trajectory before landing on Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific. The mission will carry 25 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) inclined 97.29 degrees to the equator.
ABORT! Hold and scrub for SpaceX Falcon 9 B1103-1. Brand new booster, so I guess it needs to learn the ropes. https://t.co/dVJwysvCJs pic.twitter.com/6k8CzCXyuu
— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) April 6, 2026
The vast majority of SpaceX Falcon 9 missions now involve reused boosters, and B1103 is the first new booster to fly since B1101 on Jan. 4, 2026, for the Starlink Group 6-88 mission. This flight will be the 42nd Falcon 9 launch of the year.
A Northrop Grumman Minotaur IV is scheduled to lift off from Space Launch Complex 8 (SLC-8) at VSFB at 6:30 AM CDT (11:30 UTC) on Tuesday, April 7, carrying the STP-S29A mission to low-Earth orbit (LEO) for the U.S. Department of Defense’s Space Test Program. The five-hour window runs until 11:30 AM CDT. This will be the seventh Minotaur IV mission overall and the vehicle’s first flight of 2026. Because the Minotaur IV is built using solid rocket motors sourced from decommissioned Peacekeeper ICBMs, its use is restricted to U.S. government missions.
The primary payload is STPSat-7, an ESPA-class satellite built on the Aegis Aerospace M-1 satellite bus, hosting five research and technology demonstration payloads for the DoD. NanoUHFComms will evaluate military satellite communications techniques for proliferated LEO architectures. The Naval Research Laboratory’s LARADO instrument, a NASA-sponsored concept, will use laser-sheet technology to detect and characterize small orbital debris smaller than three centimeters in diameter, the class of objects too small to track from the ground but large enough to be lethal to spacecraft.
The GAGG Radiation Instrument (GARI) is designed to space-qualify new gamma-ray detector technology for space-based defense applications. The GNSS Orbiting Situational Awareness Sensor (GOSAS) is a programmable dual GPS receiver designed to characterize the orbital GNSS environment and produce ionospheric space weather data. A fifth payload, the Satellite Fingerprint Experiment (SFPE), will demonstrate a novel physical security approach for protecting mission-critical systems. Nine cubesat rideshares are also aboard, including CANVAS, Rawhide, MISR-C, AggieSat6, MAMBO, Auris, MOCI, USNA16, and INCA-2.
A previous Minotaur IV launches from Cape Canaveral in 2017. (Credit: Northrop Grumman)
The Minotaur IV is a four-stage all-solid launch vehicle standing approximately 24 m tall and capable of delivering up to 1,735 kg to LEO. Its first three stages are SR118, SR119, and SR120 solid rocket motors drawn directly from decommissioned Peacekeeper missiles, while the fourth stage is an Orion-38 solid motor also used on the Pegasus air-launched rocket. The vehicle generates 2,200 kN of thrust at first stage ignition. Northrop Grumman inherited the Minotaur program through its 2018 acquisition of Orbital ATK, which had originally developed the vehicle under a U.S. Air Force contract.
Chang Zheng 8 | SpaceSail Polar LEO
A Chang Zheng 8 (CZ-8) rocket built and operated by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation(CASC) is scheduled to lift off from Commercial Launch Complex 1 (LC-1) at the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site during a 23-minute window on Tuesday, April 7. The payload identity is unconfirmed ahead of the mission, though tracking sources indicate the flight is likely carrying a fresh batch of satellites for the SpaceSail Polar LEO communications constellation, also known as Qianfan or G60. The unannounced nature of many Chinese constellation deployments has become a recurring pattern, with manifests typically remaining unconfirmed until CASC issues a post-launch success statement.
The Qianfan constellation, officially branded as the SpaceSail Constellation, is a LEO broadband megaconstellation operated by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) with heavy backing from the Shanghai municipal government. SSST secured roughly $943 million in a 2024 funding round and aims to launch 324 satellites in 2026, with a long-term goal of more than 15,000 satellites in orbit by 2030. The majority of previous batch deployments flew on Chang Zheng 6A (CZ-6A) rockets out of Taiyuan, reaching near-polar orbits at altitudes of roughly 800 to 1,070 km. The constellation has drawn sustained criticism from the global astronomy community, with researchers warning that Qianfan spacecraft are visible to the naked eye and will streak photographic research images in ways that software cannot fully correct.
CZ-8 launches from Wenchang. (Credit: CNSA)
The standard CZ-8 configuration will launch this mission. Featuring two strap-on liquid-fuelled boosters, the CZ-8 is a 50 m tall rocket capable of delivering 7,600 kg to LEO with a liftoff thrust of 4,752 kN. The rocket pairs a 3.35-meter-diameter kerosene/liquid oxygen first stage with a hydrolox upper stage derived from the Chang Zheng 3A series, with two YF-100 engines on the core and one on each side booster. This will be the fifth CZ-8 mission and the first of 2026.
Chang Zheng 6A | Unknown Payload
A CZ-6A rocket is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 9A (LC-9A) at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi Province during a 16-minute window on Wednesday, April 8. Both the payload and target orbit are undisclosed ahead of the mission, continuing the opaque manifest practices common across Chinese government-directed launches. This will be the 22nd flight of the CZ-6A and its third of 2026.
The CZ-6A is a medium-lift vehicle developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology and the first Chinese rocket to combine solid and liquid propulsion in a single design. Its two-and-a-half-stage configuration pairs a kerosene/liquid oxygen core powered by two YF-100 engines with four solid rocket boosters, each generating approximately 124 metric tons of thrust at ignition, for a combined liftoff thrust of around 736 metric tons. The second stage runs a single YF-115 engine. The vehicle stands approximately 52 m tall, weighs around 530,000 kg fully fueled, and can deliver at least 4,500 kg to SSO. Every CZ-6A to date has launched from LC-9A at Taiyuan, the dedicated pad built for the vehicle and first used on its maiden flight in March 2022.
The rocket has become a primary workhorse at Taiyuan across a diverse payload mix, including Guowang and Qianfan megaconstellation satellites, Yaogan remote sensing spacecraft, and classified Shiyan-series experimental satellites. One persistent concern with the vehicle has been upper stage fragmentation after separation: following the November 2022 Y2 launch, the spent upper stage broke into more than 780 tracked debris objects, with similar events observed after launches in March, July, and August 2024. CASC has not publicly explained the cause, though inadequate passivation of residual propellants has been suggested as a possible factor.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 is scheduled to lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:51 AM CDT (12:51 UTC) on Wednesday, April 8, carrying the Cygnus NG-24 cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission flies under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract and will mark the 24th flight of Cygnus and its 23rd dedicated ISS run. Northrop Grumman has named the spacecraft the S.S. Steven R. Nagel, in honor of the Air Force colonel and four-time shuttle veteran who logged 723 hours in space. Booster B1094 will fly for its seventh time and is expected to land on Landing Zone 40 (LZ-40) at Cape Canaveral following stage separation.
NG-24 will fly in the Cygnus XL configuration, which debuted on NG-23 in September 2025. The XL features a pressurized cargo module stretching 7.89 m with a payload capacity of up to 5,000 kg and 36 cubic meters of pressurized volume. The service module is built on Northrop Grumman’s GEOStar satellite bus, while the pressurized cargo module is manufactured by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. Following berthing at the station, Cygnus can remain attached for up to 200 days and is capable of performing ISS reboost burns before concluding its mission with a controlled destructive reentry.
NG-24 represents a fourth Falcon 9 mission for Cygnus, a consequence of ongoing delays to Northrop Grumman’s next-generation Antares 330, being developed with Firefly Aerospace to replace the Antares 230+. That rocket was retired in 2023 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine severed the supply chain for its Russian engines and Ukrainian first stage. Northrop originally contracted three Falcon 9 launches as an interim measure and purchased a fourth in September 2025.
Cygnus XL during berthing operations on mission NG-23. (Credit: NASA)
Steven Nagel, the astronaut for whom the spacecraft is named, flew on four orbiters between 1985 and 1993, commanded STS-37 on Atlantis in 1991, which deployed the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, and piloted Challenger on its last successful flight, STS-61A, the only mission to carry eight crew members simultaneously. He passed away in August 2014.
A Jielong 3 rocket is scheduled to lift off from a sea-based launch platform in the South China Sea during a three-hour window that opens at 11:00 UTC on Friday, April 10. The mission originates from operations based out of the Haiyang Oriental Spaceport in Shandong Province, though the platform will be positioned in the South China Sea for this flight. Both the launch vehicle identity and payload are listed as highly uncertain ahead of the mission, with tracking sources flagging the Jielong 3 as the probable vehicle based on the launch location and trajectory profile. CASC typically announces payload details only after mission success, and some sea-launched missions from this site have remained uncharacterized publicly.
The Jielong 3, also known as Smart Dragon 3, is a four-stage, all-solid, commercial launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, a CASC subsidiary, and operated commercially through its spinoff, China Rocket. Standing 31 m tall with a liftoff mass of approximately 140,000 kg, the vehicle is capable of delivering up to 1,500 kg to LEO. Its first stage generates approximately 200 metric tons of thrust. The Jielong 3 is one of China’s most frequently flown commercial rockets and is notably versatile, having launched from sea platforms in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea, as well as from land. If confirmed, this will be the 11th Jielong 3 mission and its third of 2026.
The Haiyang Oriental Spaceport in Shandong Province has become a key hub for China’s growing sea-launch capability, supporting missions from multiple commercial operators. The southerly trajectory planned for this mission is consistent with a polar or SSO orbital insertion, the profile flown on all previous Jielong 3 sea launches. Previous missions from this vehicle have carried commercial Earth observation satellites, navigation enhancement spacecraft, and rideshare payloads for a range of domestic customers.
The Starlink 17-23 payload before deployment in orbit on March 1, 2026. (Credit: SpaceX)
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-21
SpaceX is scheduled to launch another Falcon 9 from SLC-4E at VSFB at 9:39 PM CDT (02:39 UTC on April 10) on Thursday, April 9, carrying 25 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to SSO. Following the southerly trajectory out of Vandenberg characteristic of SSO missions, the first stage will attempt a propulsive landing on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, positioned in the Pacific Ocean, approximately eight minutes after liftoff.
The booster for this mission is B1063, which will be making its 32nd flight after a 48-day turnaround. B1063’s career spans Starlink deployments, Starshield missions for the U.S. government, and various commercial payloads. The Starlink Group 17-21 designation places this batch within the Group 17 shell of the second-generation constellation’s SSO orbital plane structure. This will be SpaceX’s 44th launch of 2026 and the 83rd orbital attempt worldwide for the year.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-24
SpaceX is scheduled to launch a Falcon 9 from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 1:57 AM CDT (06:57 UTC) on Sunday, April 12, carrying 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to LEO. Flying the northeasterly trajectory out of the Florida pad, the first stage will attempt a propulsive landing on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 8.5 minutes after liftoff, which would mark the 615th booster recovery attempt in SpaceX history.
The booster for this mission is B1080, which will be making its 26th flight after a 39-day turnaround. B1080 carries one of the most varied manifests in the active fleet, having previously launched two Axiom Space private astronaut missions, Northrop Grumman’s NG-21 Cygnus cargo flight, and NASA’s CRS-30 Dragon resupply mission. It made history in May 2023 as the first booster to land onshore after launching a crewed mission, and in November 2024, it set a fleet turnaround record by flying twice in under 14 days.
The 29-satellite payload is consistent with the Group 10 shell’s lower-inclination LEO profile out of SLC-40. This will be SpaceX’s 45th launch of 2026 and the 84th orbital attempt worldwide for the year.
(Lead image: Falcon 9 launches from Florida. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)
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