China targets two launches as SpaceX takes It easy

A Falcon 9 rocket climbs away from Vandenberg Space Force Base during a Starlink launch in March 2023. SpaceX is targeting Saturday, Sept. 26, for another Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg, this one carrying a classified payload for the U.S. Space Force. SpaceX, CC BY-NC 2.0

Rocket launches this week

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 9:30 a.m. EDT, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the state-owned contractor that builds the Long March rocket family, is set to launch a Long March 8A rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the coast of Hainan island in the South China Sea. The payload has not been disclosed, per tracking from Next Spaceflight.

On Thursday, Sept. 24, at 4:45 a.m. EDT, CASC returns with a Long March 6A launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northeastern China’s Shanxi province. As with Wednesday’s flight, the payload is undisclosed, per Next Spaceflight.

On Friday, Sept. 25, at 8:15 p.m. EDT, Rocket Lab launches an Electron from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula. The mission, dubbed “Owlright, Owlright, Owlright,” carries a single StriX synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite for Synspective, a Japan-based Earth-observation company. It’s Rocket Lab’s 13th launch for Synspective’s SAR constellation, which supplies data for urban planning, infrastructure monitoring, and disaster response.

On Saturday, Sept. 26, at 7:56 a.m. EDT, SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 Block 5 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, carrying the classified USSF-385 mission for the U.S. Space Force. The booster is targeting a landing on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific.

Rocket launches last week

On Sept. 15, two commercial Chinese rockets added to the Qianfan broadband constellation: Landspace — a private Chinese launch company headquartered in Beijing — launched a ZhuQue-2E from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northern China’s Gobi Desert, and Orienspace — a private Chinese launch company headquartered in Shandong province — launched a Gravity 1 carrying nine satellites from Haiyang.

On Sept. 16, Roscosmos launched the Progress MS-35 cargo craft to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz 2.1b from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Later that day, CASC launched the SatNet LEO Group 25 satellite batch aboard a Long March 12 from Wenchang as part of China’s state-backed satellite internet megaconstellation built to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink.

Also on Sept. 16, ExPace — a state-owned Chinese commercial launch company based in Wuhan — sent up the SpaceTY-51 and -52 satellites aboard a Kuaizhou 11 from Jiuquan for Spacety, a Chinese commercial satellite maker specializing in SAR imaging.

SpaceX closed out Sept. 16 by launching the USSF-259 national security payload aboard a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg, with the booster landing on Of Course I Still Love You.

On Sept. 17, Roscosmos launched the Cosmos (Glonass-K) navigation satellite aboard a Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia.

On Sept. 18, Rocket Lab flew its “Owl By The Dozen” mission from Māhia, carrying one StriX satellite for Synspective’s SAR imaging constellation.

On Sept. 19, CASC launched a Long March 2D carrying four PIESAT-2 radar satellites from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northeastern China’s Shanxi province, adding to a commercial SAR imaging constellation.

Later that day, SpaceX launched the Starlink Group 15-27 mission from Vandenberg, with the booster again landing on Of Course I Still Love You.

The week closed out Sept. 20, when CAS Space — a Chinese commercial launch company majority-owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Guangzhou — lofted nine satellites aboard its Kinetica 1 rocket from Jiuquan.

Upcoming rocket launches

On Monday, Sept. 28, SpaceX is targeting the 14th flight of Starship from Starbase, Texas — the vehicle’s first attempt at a full orbital flight after 13 suborbital test flights. The mission will deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites before Starship splashes down in the Pacific roughly 10 hours after liftoff.

On Sept. 30, SpaceX will launch Starlink Group 15-25 from Vandenberg at 12 p.m. EDT, with the booster targeting Of Course I Still Love You.

Brooks Mendenhall is a staff writer at Astronomy, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, fueled by an unending curiosity about the universe. A former classroom teacher, he has a knack for breaking down complex concepts for a wide audience.