China, Rocket Lab, and SpaceX prepare for lots of satellite launches - TWIRL #205

Image credit: NASA/Cory S Huston

We have a good number of launches planned for the coming week, but nothing stands out too much as they're mostly satellite launches. We have a big recap section this week, so be sure to take a look at the clips.

Monday, 17 March

Who: Galactic Energy
What: Ceres 1
When: 08:09 UTC
Where: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
Why: Galactic Energy will launch a Ceres 1 rocket carrying the Zhongke 06 and 07 satellites into orbit. Both satellites will be part of the AIRSAT constellation, which provides Earth surface monitoring data services.

Tuesday, 18 March

Who: Rocket Lab
What: Electron
When: 01:31 UTC
Where: Mahia, New Zealand
Why: Rocket Lab will use an Electron rocket to launch five Kinesis satellites to orbit. The satellites will join a constellation of satellites to provide Internet of Things (IoT) communication services.

Who: SpaceX
What: Falcon 9
When: 18:09 – 22:09 UTC
Where: Florida, US
Why: SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink satellites that carry the designation Starlink Group 12-25. Among the 21 satellites are 13 Direct-to-Cell satellites which can provide phone services directly to supported devices, without the need for a Starlink receiver, over LTE.

Friday, 21 March

Who: Galactic Energy
What: Ceres 1
When: 11:10 UTC
Where: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
Why: Galactic Energy will use a Ceres 1 rocket to launch an unknown payload in a mission called Vernal Ascent.

Saturday, 22 March

Who: SpaceX
What: Falcon 9
When: 20:45 – 00:45 UTC
Where: California, US
Why: SpaceX will use a Falcon 9 to launch 23 Starlink satellites, designated Starlink Group 11-7. Following the launch, we can expect SpaceX to attempt a landing of the first stage of the Falcon 9, so that it can be reused.

Recap

The first mission we got last week saw China launch a Long March 3B/E rocket carrying the Communications Engineering Test Satellite 15 (TJS 15). It will be used for satellite communications and radio and television broadcasting. Additionally, it will assist in data transmission and carry out technical tests and verifications. You can watch the launch on YouTube.
The second mission also came from China when a Long March 8 rocket took off with 18 satellites for the SpaceSail internet constellation that rivals Starlink. As an end goal, this constellation of satellites will consist of more than 14,000 low Earth orbit broadband satellites. You can check out this launch on YouTube.
Next, SpaceX used a Falcon 9 to launch NASA’s SPHEREx and PUNCH missions. SPHEREx will produce four complete all-sky maps to help astronomers better understand the universe, while PUNCH will focus on the Sun’s outer atmosphere, called the corona, to learn how it generates solar wind.

For the fourth mission, we got SpaceX launching a Falcon 9 carrying 21 Starlink satellites to a low Earth orbit. This batch is Starlink Group 12-21. This included 13 Direct-to-Cell satellites. You can watch the event on the SpaceX website.
Next up, SpaceX launched another Falcon 9, but this time, it was carrying a crew in a Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. Aboard were NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. They are replacing the astronauts who had been on the ISS for an extended duration. You can view the launch on the SpaceX website.
The sixth launch of the week came from Rocket Lab which launched an Electron rocket carrying 9 QPS-SAR satellites for the Japanese firm iQPS. You can watch it on Rocket Lab’s website.
China launched a Long March 2D rocket carrying the SuperView Neo 3-02 satellite. This is an Earth observation satellite with a 130 km imaging swatch and a 0.5 km resolution. You can see the launch on YouTube.
The penultimate launch was from SpaceX which launched a Falcon 9 as part of the Transporter-13 mission. It was a rideshare mission that saw 74 smallsats launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit. The main payloads were SpaceEye-T, an Earth observation satellite for Satrec Initiative, and Clarity 1, a VLEO Earth observation satellite for Albedo. You can view this launch on SpaceX’s website.
The final mission saw SpaceX launch a Falcon 9 carrying 23 Starlink satellites to a low Earth orbit. This batch was Starlink Group 12-16. Among them, it had 13 Direct-to-Cell satellites. You can watch the launch on the SpaceX website.