Science expedition led by Shepard initiates a surge of launches this week
The space industry is gearing up for an action-packed week, with multiple launches scheduled across the globe. Here's a rundown of the missions to watch out for.
Starting with Blue Origin, the NS-35 New Shepard mission is set to launch from West Texas on Thursday. This mission, dedicated to science and research, will provide microgravity for over 40 payloads. Among the experiments are space farming, medicine in microgravity, in-space refueling, power generation, and biological imaging. Carthage College is the institution behind the experimental payloads, testing in-space propellant refueling and on-orbit transfer operations. The mission will also carry thousands of postcards from students around the world as part of Blue Origin's Club for the Future initiative.
Meanwhile, SpaceX is not to be outdone. The week is expected to close out with two more Starlink missions on Wednesday and Thursday. On Sunday, a doubleheader for SpaceX kicks off the week with the launch of the Starlink Group 10-27 batch from Cape Canaveral at 5:20 a.m. EDT. Another Starlink mission, the Starlink Group 10-61, is scheduled for Thursday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
In addition, a SpaceX Falcon 9 is set to launch the Starlink Group 17-12 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Wednesday. Later in the week, another Falcon 9 will launch the clandestine NROL-48 payload for the National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg at 1:37 p.m. EDT on Sunday, with the first-stage booster attempting a landing at Vandenberg's Landing Zone 4.
Last week, the space industry saw eight launches globally, involving entities such as SpaceX, Roscosmos, and CASC, encompassing both commercial and governmental missions. Notable among these was the launch of the China Rocket Jielong 3, carrying the Geely Constellation Group 05 and a Long March 7A deployed the Yaogan 45 satellite.
On the international front, a CASC Long March 2C/YZ-1S rocket is scheduled to launch an unknown payload from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China on Monday, September 15. Next week, Rocket Lab is scheduled for a suborbital launch of its Electron rocket from Virginia, carrying the JENNA payload.
Lastly, SpaceX is targeting Tuesday for the launch of NASA's IMAP solar observatory mission from Kennedy Space Center. The mission includes 24 student-led experiments from NASA's TechRise Student Challenge.
Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to monitor these exciting space missions.
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