Launch Roundup: SpaceX returns to launching Starlink following Starship launch

by John Sharp

With the dust settling following the launches of Blue Origin’s New Glenn and SpaceX’s Starship last week and two consequential mishap investigations underway, business returns to usual this week. SpaceX missions dominated the week, with four SpaceX Starlink launches.

SpaceX continues its drive to launch approximately 7,500 v2 Mini Starlink satellites into orbit. At the start of this week, 2,963 have been launched, and of those, 97 have deorbited, leaving 2,866 in orbit.

A new, lighter version of the v2 Mini satellites has been produced in recent months. This version masses approximately 575 kg at launch, nearly 22% less than the original v2 Mini design, allowing Falcon 9 to launch more satellites to orbit per launch. While a recent report suggested as many as 29 may be carried, Starlink Group 11-8  launched 27 satellites on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

Elsewhere, China launched two vehicles on Thursday and was due to fly a new booster demonstration flight on Saturday, but this mission has now been postponed.

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 13-1

This week’s first launch marked the start of a new group for the Starlink constellation — Group 13. Falcon 9 launched from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 12:24 AM EST (05:24 UTC) during a four-hour launch window.

The expected payload of 21 Starlink v2 Mini satellites will launch to a 43-degree inclination orbit on a southeasterly trajectory into an initial orbit of approximately 272 km by 283 km. There is speculation that there may have been additional payloads of an unspecified nature aboard this flight. Factors including the lack of video of the second stage and payload in SpaceX’s webcast are now backed up by a photograph published on X that clearly shows 23 dots in the Starlink “train”.

The booster supporting this mission is B1083, flying for the eighth time, having previously flown Crew-8, Starlink Group 6-48, Starlink Group 6-56, Polaris Dawn, CRS-31, Starlink Group 6-65, and Astranis: From One to Many. The first flight was on March 4, 2024.

SpaceX’s autonomous droneship A Shortfall Of Gravitas was stationed downrange in the Atlantic Ocean for booster recovery operations. The booster landed successfully on the droneship and will be returned to Port Canaveral for check-over and re-flight.

Falcon 9 is a 3.9-meter diameter, 70-meter-tall two-stage rocket. Nine Merlin 1D engines power the first stage booster, while the second stage utilizes a single vacuum-optimized Merlin engine. Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are the first and only reusable orbital rockets in service today, with one Falcon booster having flown twenty-five flights. The two payload fairings are also recovered and reused after flights.

If current schedules hold, this will be SpaceX’s ninth mission in 2025 and its 443rd mission overall.

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 11-8

Falcon 9 was set to launch a batch of Starlink satellites for the Starlink Group 11-8 mission on Sunday, Jan. 18, from California, but was ultimately scrubbed at T-11 seconds due to a wayward aircraft. Group 11-8 finally launched on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 7:45 AM PST (15:45 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB).

Falcon 9 flew a southeasterly trajectory to insert a batch of 27 v2 Mini satellites into a 274 km by 285 km orbit inclined 53 degrees. The increased number of satellites is believed to result from the design’s mass reduction.

The booster, B1082, landed atop SpaceX’s west coast autonomous droneship Of Course I Still Love You, stationed downrange in the Pacific. SpaceX claimed that this was the 400th Falcon landing.

B1082 was flying for the tenth time, having previously flown the USSF-62, OneWeb #20, and seven Starlink missions. Its first flight was on Jan. 3, 2024, and all of its missions have been flown from VSFB.

Chang Zheng 6A | G60 Polar Group 06

A launch from LC-9A at Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in China took place on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 05:15 UTC. The vehicle flew a southerly trajectory.

The payload consisted of 18 communications satellites bound for Polar Orbit as part of a constellation for Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology.

The Chang Zheng (Long March) 6A rocket consists of two stages with four additional strap-on engines. A 4.2 m diameter, 57m high fairing sits atop the second stage, giving the vehicle a 50 m height.

Chang Zheng 3B/E | Unknown Payload

A further Chinese mission was launched on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 15:32 UTC from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. Hazard notices indicate a southeasterly trajectory.

Again, the payload and launch vehicle identities remain uncertain.

The Chang Zheng (Long March) 3B rocket has three stages and stands at a height of 56.3 m.

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 11-6

SpaceX’s next Starlink mission and second launch of the week from California was the Group 11-6 mission, which launched from SLC-4E at VSFB. The four-hour launch window opened on Friday, Jan. 24, at 5:54 AM PST (13:54 UTC). The launch took place at 6:07 AM PST (14:07 UTC), carrying 23 V2 Mini satellites to LEO.

The booster landed successfully atop Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific following launch and stage separation.

The booster supporting this mission is B1063, which is flying for the 23rd time. All of this booster’s flights have been from Vandenberg, including eight customer flights and 14 previous Starlink missions. Its first flight was on Nov. 21, 2020. B1063 supported Starlink Group 9-3 which was a rare launch failure as a result of a second-stage oxygen leak leading to an unstable final orbit.

Chang Zheng 8A Demo Flight | Unknown Payload 

China was planning to fly a demonstration flight of its new Chang Zheng (Long March ) 8A booster on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 10:00 UTC. This flight has now been postponed until Feb. 11 at 10:00 UTC.

While the payload identity is uncertain, this will be the first flight of this new booster. The 8A is a two-stage booster with upgraded engines on the first stage. There is also a new and larger second stage with new YF-75H engines derived from the CZ 5A. The second stage utilizes liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants.

The booster stands at 50.54 m high and 3.35 m in diameter. The fairing is 5.2 m in diameter.

SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 12-7

Another batch of  21 V2 Mini Starlink satellites launched from SLC-40 at Cape Canveral in Florida on Monday, Jan. 27, at 5:05 PM EST (22:05 UTC), towards the end of the four-hour launch window.. The flight followed a southeasterly route to LEO. The payload includes 13 of the Direct to Cełl variant of the Starlink satellite.

Booster B1076 was supporting this mission on its 20th flight, landing successfully on the autonomous droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. This booster has been active since late 2022, visiting the International Space Station on its first flight for the CRS-26 mission. It has since lofted a variety of satellites, including OneWeb, 03b mPOWER, Intelsat 40e, Eutelsat 36D , Turksat 6A, Worldview Legion 3 and 4, and ten other Starlink missions, amongst others.

(Lead Image: Falcon 9 launches into the Florida skies. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)

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