Launch Roundup: China to launch crew to Tiangong Space Station, Russia to launch military payload
Date:
Mon, 28 Oct 2024 22:21:48 +0000
Description:
In another busy week of launches, China will launch three taikonauts to the Tiangong Space The post Launch Roundup: China to launch crew to Tiangong
Space Station, Russia to launch military payload appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .
FULL STORY ======================================================================
In another busy week of launches, China will launch three taikonauts to the Tiangong Space Station aboard a Chang Zheng rocket this week as part of the Shenzhou 19 mission. Additionally, both Russia and Japan will launch military payloads, and Rocket Lab will launch a confidential customers payload from
New Zealand.
As usual, SpaceX will continue to fly Starlink missions throughout the week. SpaceXs CRS-31 mission, a Cargo Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the International Space Station, was initially expected to launch this week but has since been postponed until no earlier than Nov. 5.
SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 9-9
SpaceXs first mission of the week will be the launch of the Starlink Group
9-9 mission atop a Falcon 9 on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 4:30 AM PDT (11:30 UTC), during a two-hour launch window. The payload of v2 Mini Starlink satellites will be launched into a low-Earth orbit (LEO) from Space Launch Complex 4
East (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. After launch and stage separation, the yet-to-be-announced booster will land on the autonomous droneship Of Course I Still Love You , which will be stationed approximately 600 km downrange.
The first stage booster is powered by nine Merlin 1D engines, while the
second utilizes a single vacuum-optimized Merlin engine. Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are the first and only reusable orbital rockets in service today, with some Falcon boosters having flown over twenty flights. The two payload fairings are also recovered and reused after flight. Shenzhou 19 sits atop
its Chang Zheng rocket. (Credit: CASC)
Chang Zheng 2F/G | Shenzhou 19
Later on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 20:27 UTC, China will launch three taikonauts from Site 901 (SLS-1) at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China on the Shenzhou 19 mission. Shenzhou-19 will serve as the 14th crewed flight of the Shenzhou program and will carry the three crew members to the Tiangong Space Station.
The Chang Zheng (Long March) 2F/G rocket consists of two stages with four strap-on liquid-fueled boosters, lifting a total mass of 8,100 kg into LEO.
The crew members for Shenzhou-19 have not yet been named. Assuming
Shenzhou-19 arrives at Tiangong on time and as expected, the Shenzhou 18 crew will depart and return to Earth on Nov. 3 after a six-month mission aboard
the space station.
A full-system dress rehearsal was carried out on October 26 in preparation
for Shenzhou-19s launch.
SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-13
The second SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of the week will see Falcon 9 carry more Starlink v2 Mini satellites to LEO on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 5:10 PM EDT (21:10 UTC). Launching from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the currently unknown booster is expected to land on one of SpaceXs east coast droneships 600 km downrange.
Falcon 9 is planned to fly on a northeasterly trajectory out of Florida.
Soyuz 2.1b | Unknown Payload
Russia will launch a Soyuz 2.1b rocket on Thursday, Oct. 31, at 07:00 UTC
from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. This secretive mission is likely a Russian military payload being launched into a polar Earth orbit.
The Soyuz 2 rocket has two major variants: Soyuz 2.1a, which serves as the base version, and Soyuz 2.1b, which utilizes a more powerful third stage. Soyuz 2.1b is powered by four RD-107A engines on the first stage (arranged around the second, core stage), a single RD-108A engine on the core stage,
and an RD-0124 engine on the third stage. Each stage uses liquid oxygen and kerosene (RP-1) as propellants. A previous Soyuz 2.1b on the launch pad at Baikonur. (Credit: Glavkosmos)
SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 9-10
Launching from SLC-4E at Vandenberg on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 1:56 AM PDT
(08:56 UTC) is the Starlink Group 9-10 mission atop a Falcon 9. Aiming to launch at the opening of a four-hour window, Falcon 9 will deliver another batch of v2 Mini Starlink satellites to LEO.
The booster, which is not currently known, will land on SpaceXs west coast droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed southeast of the launch pad.
SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-77
The fourth Starlink mission of the week, Starlink Group 6-77, is expected to launch on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 4:57 PM EDT (21:57 UTC) from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
No details are currently available regarding the booster or the recovery vessels supporting this mission, which is expected to fly a southeasterly trajectory out of the Cape. Rollout of Electron to LC-1B at the Mhia launch site. (Credit: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab Electron | Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes
Closing out the week is Rocket Labs Electron and the Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes mission. Rocket Lab is targeting Monday, Nov. 4, at
10:30 UTC for the launch of the mission, which will see Electron carry a confidential payload from Rocket Labs Launch Complex 1B (LC-1B) on the Mhia Peninsula in New Zealand. Electrons 12th mission of 2024 will fly on a southwesterly trajectory and loft the payload into a Sun-synchronous orbit.
The missions customer has not been announced, and the payload is
confidential. However, Electrons extended fairing appears to be in use for this mission.
(Lead image: SpaceX Starlink mission launches from Florida. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)
The post Launch Roundup: China to launch crew to Tiangong Space Station, Russia to launch military payload appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .
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Link to news story:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/10/launch-roundup-102824/
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