The busy launch manifests of recent weeks are continuing, with Falcon 9, Electron, and Chinese rocket launches having taken place this week. SpaceX launched Starlink 12-25 and NROL-57 along with NROL-69, while Starlink 11-7 moved into next week.
Rocket Lab’s Electron successfully launched from New Zealand on the heels of last week’s “The Lightning God Reigns” mission on Electron. China’s Galactic Energy also launched a pair of Gushenxing-1 missions from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The debut launch of a European orbital rocket had been set for the end of this week but has been pushed back due to weather.
An orbital launch from China occurred on Monday, March 17. Galactic Energy’s Gushenxing-1 (Ceres-1) flew the mission out of Jiuquan in the Gobi Desert. Launch happened at 08:07 UTC from Site 95A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, with the rocket following a southwest trajectory that sent a payload of eight satellites to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).
The four-stage Gushenxing-1, with three solid-fueled stages and a single liquid-fueled upper stage, is capable of flying up to 300 kg into a 500 km altitude SSO. The satellites flown were the AIRSAT-06 and AIRSAT-07 Earth observation satellites as well as the Yunyao-1 #55-60 weather satellites, placed into a 535 km altitude SSO.
Liftoff of Gushenxing-1. (Credit: CASC)
“Auld Lang Syne” was the second Gushenxing-1 launch of 2025 and the first of two planned for this week. Both flights are from Jiuquan with similar SSO trajectories, which raises the possibility that the second launch is also launching a constellation of Earth observation satellites.
Five Kineis satellites being prepared for shipment after being built. (Credit: Kineis)
Just over 72 hours after the launch of “The Lightning God Reigns,” Rocket Lab flew another Electron from its private launch site on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. The “High Five” mission, the fifth and final launch for the French company Kineis, launched successfully at 01:31 UTC on Tuesday, March 18, from Launch Complex 1A (LC-1A) at Mahia during an instantaneous window. The 72-hour turnaround between Electron launches was enabled by two operational launch pads at the Mahia site, with Launch Complex 1B (LC-1B) being used for “The Lightning God Reigns” last week.
For this mission, Electron launched five satellites, each massing 28 kg, on a southwest trajectory to a circular polar orbit at 650 km altitude inclined 97 degrees. Following separation from Electron’s upper stage, the Curie kick stage completed the necessary orbital maneuvers and deployed the satellites.
We've rolled out and we're ready for launch tomorrow – our second mission from LC-1 in three days 🚀🚀
The "High Five" mission for @KineisIoT is the final in a 5-launch deal to complete their constellation – though with an instantaneous launch requirement, a weather system… pic.twitter.com/wjotvWCKaD
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) March 16, 2025
Kineis, a French company providing global communications services for the Internet of Things (IoT), has flown four missions with Rocket Lab before “High Five”. The previous Electron launches for Kineis deployed 20 satellites for its IoT constellation in various orbits to offer worldwide coverage. Kineis’ constellation is now complete with 25 satellites following “High Five.”
This flight was the fourth Electron launch of 2025 and the second of March, following two launches in February. Rocket Lab flew Electron 16 times in 2024 and hopes to expand on this cadence in 2025. The company is also working on bringing its medium-lift partially reusable Neutron rocket to its first flight later this year.
Deployment of 21 @Starlink satellites confirmed pic.twitter.com/Em6wof0xCb
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 13, 2025
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 12-25
The first Falcon 9 launch of the week was another Starlink mission flying to the Group 12 shell. Starlink Group 12-25 launched on Tuesday, March 18, at 3:57 PM EDT (19:57 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS)in Florida. The launch was scheduled within a four-hour window extending to 6:09 PM EDT (22:09 UTC).
Falcon 9 flew on a southeast trajectory with B1077-19 successfully landing atop A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. Like all other Group 12 launches, the mission flew a mix of regular Starlink v2 Mini and the Starlink Direct to Cell satellites. In this case, the mission launched 23 satellites – 13 Direct to Cell and 10 regular v2 Mini satellites.
Starlink 12-25 was the 32nd Falcon 9 launch of 2025. SLC-40 is now being refurbished for the NROL-69 flight while Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center is still being refurbished following the Crew-10 launch.
A Falcon 9 sits on the pad at SLC-4E at Vandenberg. (Credit: SpaceX)
The first of two Falcon 9 launches planned from California this week flew a National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload. The NROL-57 mission launched on Thursday, March 20, at 11:49 PM PDT (06:49 UTC on Thursday, March 20) from Space Launch Complex-4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB). The launch window for this flight lasted until 1:17 AM PDT on Friday, March 21 (08:17 UTC).
The booster, B1088-4, conducted a boostback burn and a successful return-to-launch-site landing at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) following liftoff. The second stage proceeded with the NRO payload into orbit after Falcon 9 flew a southeast trajectory from SLC-4E.
B1088 started its career with the NROL-126 flight and launched Transporter 12 and SPHEREx/PUNCH before NROL-57. In fact, the booster set a new record for time between flights at just a little over nine days after it flew the SPHEREx/PUNCH mission. The last record was around 13 days.
NROL-57 is thought to be an eighth batch of Starshield reconnaissance satellites built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman. These satellites will ultimately form a constellation that can cover the globe with redundancy in case of enemy action or other issues.
This mission was the 33rd Falcon 9 launch of 2025. SpaceX is attempting to break its record of 132 Falcon launches in 2024, with a possibility of up to 170 launches this year.
The second Gushenxing-1 launch this week launched Friday, March 21, at 11:07 UTC from Site 95A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. The launch trajectory was similar to the flight from earlier in the week, which placed the Yunyao-1 payload into SSO.
Six Yunyao-1 weather satellites – numbers 43 through 48 – were launched into orbit. The Yunyao-1 constellation is planned to eventually have 90 satellites, and they will perform atmospheric measurements using radio occultation of signals from global navigation satellites. The flight was the third Gushenxing-1 mission of the year and the second of the week.
Render of Spectrum rocket on the pad at Andoya (Credit: Isar Aerospace)
The first ever orbital launch attempt using a European rocket from continental Europe outside of Russia was scrubbed due to high winds. ISAR Aerospace’s Spectrum two-stage launch vehicle was scheduled to make its debut flight on Sunday, March 23, 2025 – then Monday, March 24 after being pushed back – from the Orbital Launch Pad at Andoya Rocket Range in Norway. Launch time was supposed to be at 11:30 UTC, at the start of a three-hour window.
The launch will take a northwest trajectory which would place a payload in a retrograde orbit, though as it currently stands no payload will be on this flight. The Spectrum is powered by engines using liquid oxygen and propane as propellants, and the first stage uses nine Aquila engines while the second stage uses one Aquila engine and is capable of in-orbit restarts. The vehicle is capable of carrying up to 1,000 kg to low-Earth orbit or 700 kg to sun-synchronous orbit.
The European commercial space industry has faced its share of struggles in recent years, but a lineup of launchers is starting to be tested. New orbital launch pads are being built up, and launchers like Spectrum are planned to service a growing market for constellations of satellites distributed in low-Earth orbit.
SpaceX added NROL-69 to this week’s launch lineup. The NROL-69 mission launched successfully from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex-40 on Monday, March 24 at 1:42 PM EDT (17:42 UTC). Launch was on a northeast trajectory with the booster, B1092-2, successfully performing a return to launch site maneuver and a landing at LZ-1.
The NRO is the customer for this flight and will be flying a classified payload. This flight was the 34th Falcon 9 launch of this year.
(Lead image: Falcon 9 lifts off into the Florida skies. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)
