SpaceX Puts 125 Satellites into Orbit in Launch Doubleheader
Falcon 9 lifts off on Transporter-8 mission on June 12, 2023. Image credit: SpaceX webcast.
In this week's Launch Roundup, SpaceX placed 125 satellites into orbit on Monday with a pair of Falcon 9 launches conducted from opposite coasts only 14 hours apart.
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What did SpaceX launch into orbit on June 12th?
A Falcon 9 lifted off with 53 Starlink broadband satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 3:10 AM EDT. Elon Musk's company has launched 930 Starlink satellites this year, bringing the total to 4,596 Starlink spacecraft since February 2018.
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From which launch site did the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink satellites launch?
A Falcon 9 carrying 72 rideshare satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with 72 satellites at 2:35 PM PDT. It was SpaceX's eighth Transporter rideshare mission.
A pair of Chinese commercial boosters also launched over the past week. CAS Space's Kinetica 1 (Lijian-1) rocket launched 26 payloads into orbit. Kinetica-1 is a four-stage solid-fuel rocket capable of lifting 3,307 pounds (1,500 kg) to sun-synchronous orbit or 4,409 pounds (2,000 kg) to low Earth orbit. The rocket had a successful maiden flight in July 2022.
CAS Space is a commercial spinoff of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is a partial owner of the company.
Date Launcher - Organization Payloads - Organization Purpose(s) Launch Site June 7 Kinetica 1 - CAS Space Shiyan 24A - CASIC* Tech demo Jiuquan Shiyan 24B - CASIC* Tech demo Fucheng-1 - Spacety Earth observation Xi'an Hangtou-8 - Xi'an Aerospace Earth observation CXPD- Guangxi University X-ray astronomy 21 undisclosed payloads TBA June 9 Kuaizhou 1A - ExPace Longjiang-3 - HIT+ Communications Jiuquan June 12 Falcon 9 - SpaceX 53 Starlink - SpaceX Communications Cape Canaveral June 12 Falcon 9 - SpaceX 72 satellites - Transporter-8 rideshare Multiple Vandenberg * China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation
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How many operational Starlink satellites does SpaceX have in orbit?
ExPace's Kuiazhou 1A rocket launched the Longjiang-3 communications satellite for the Harbin Institute of Technology. The booster is capable of launching 250 kg (551 lb) to a 500 km (311 mile) high orbit or 200 kg (441 pound) to a 700 km (435 mile) high orbit.
Kuiazhou 1A consists of three solid-fuel stages and a liquid-fuel fourth stage. The rocket has a record of 19 successes and two failures.
ExPace is a fully-owned subsidiary of the government-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.
An Ariane 5 booster launches ESA's JUICE orbiter to explore Jupiter's three ice-covered moons. Image credit: Arianespace.
The 117th and final Ariane 5 launch is scheduled for June 16 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. The booster has a record of 111 successes, two failures, and three partial failures since its first flight in June 2006. The first launch of its successor, Ariane 6, will occur late this year or in early 2024.
Date Launcher - Organization Payloads - Organization Purpose(s) Launch Site June 15 Long March 2D - CASC Jilin-1 - TBA TBA Taiyuan June 16 Ariane 5 - Arianespace Heinrich Hertz (H2Sat) - DLR+ Communications Kourou Syracuse 4B (Comsat-NG2) - DGA^ Communications June 19 Falcon 9 - SpaceX SATRIA-1 - PSN** Communications Cape Canaveral June 21 Delta IV Heavy NROL-68 - NRO++ Reconnaissance Cape Canaveral June 27 Soyuz-2.1b - Roscosmos 22 rideshare - multiple Multiple Vostochny * China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
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What was the name of the SpaceX droneship that the Falcon 9 booster landed on?
United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy will be making its penultimate flight on June 21 as it orbits a satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The final flight is scheduled for 2024.
The Delta IV booster, which includes medium and heavy variants, has flown 41 times since November 2002. It has a record of 40 successes and one partial failure, which occurred on the maiden flight of Delta IV Heavy.
Roscomos will launch a Soyuz-2.1b rocket with 22 rideshare payloads aboard from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Far East on June 27. The Meteor-M No. 2-3 weather satellite is the primary payload, with 21 CubeSats along for the ride.
The United States continues to lead the world by a wide margin with 49 launches, including 45 successes and four failures. SpaceX leads all providers with a record of 40 successes and one failure.
Rocket Lab has launched five times. The company aims to complete 15 launches this year, up from nine in 2022.
Nation Successes Failures Total Percentage United States 45 4 49 54.4 China 23 0 23 25.6 Russia 8 0 8 8.9 India 4 0 4 4.4 Japan 1 1 2 2.2 Europe 1 0 1 1.1 Israel 1 0 1 1.1 South Korea 1 0 1 1.1 North Korea 0 1 1 1.1 Total 84 6 90 100
The four failed American launches included three maiden flights - SpaceX's Starship/Super Heavy, ABL Space Systems' RS1, and Relativity Space's Terran 1 - as well as the sixth launch of Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne. Japan's H3 rocket also failed on its maiden launch.
China is in second place overall with 23 launches. CASC's Long March family of boosters has flown 17 times. ExPace has launched twice. CAS Space, Galactic Energy, i-space, and Space Pioneer have launched one time apiece.
Russia has launched eight times, India four times, and Japan twice. Europe, Israel, and South Korea have conducted one flight apiece.
SpaceX's 40 successful flights have placed 1,312 satellites out of 1,458 launched into orbit this year.
The Indian Space Research Organisation and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation are far down on the table with 42 and 40 satellites launched, respectively.
SpaceX leads the world with 38 Falcon 9 launches. The company also launched Falcon Heavy twice and Starship/Super Heavy once. The Long March 2C and 2D variants have flown seven times. Rocket Lab's Electron has launched five times.
An Electron launches two BlackSky satellites from New Zealand on March 24, 2023.
Florida's east coast remains the busiest launch site in the world, with a combined 29 launches originating from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Vandenberg Space Force Base in California is in second place among American spaceports with 12 launches.
Rocket Lab has launched twice from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia and three times from its spaceport on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand.
SpaceX's Starbase and the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska have each hosted a single launch.
The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center leads all Chinese spaceports with 14 launches. The nation's other three launch sites have hosted a total of nine launches.
Russia has launched five times from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, twice from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, and once from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
India's Satish Dhawan Launch Centre has hosted four flights this year.
North Korea's recent failed satellite launch from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station doubled the number of flights originating from the Korean Peninsula.