This week, China has launched three taikonauts to the Tiangong space station. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 had four flights scheduled, with its third Bandwagon rideshare mission followed by three more Starlink missions, including its 250th dedicated Starlink flight. United Launch Alliance successfully launched its first batch of operational Kuiper satellites aboard an Atlas V 551 rocket.
The week’s launch manifest began in the early hours of Monday morning with a Falcon 9 lofting the CRS-32 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. Cargo Dragon C209 docked at the Harmony port of the ISS on Tuesday, April 22, at 8:40 AM EDT (12:40 UTC), following a 28-hour coast and rendezvous.
SpaceX launched its third Bandwagon rideshare mission on Monday, April 21, at 8:48 PM EDT (00:48 UTC on April 22) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
SpaceX’s Bandwagon missions are a series of small satellite rideshare missions that launch payloads into mid-inclination low-Earth orbits (LEO). These missions complement the company’s Transporter missions, which primarily target Sun-synchronous orbits. Payloads are attached to a ring-shaped adapter on the upper stage, known as the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA).
These rideshare missions offer customers a 50 kg satellite limit per mounting port for a base price of $300,000, which also helps to manage the mass distribution across the adapter. SpaceX offers flexible pricing for additional mass and, with extenders, significantly larger payloads can also be carried, such as the Haven-Demo at approximately 500 kg. Vast told NSF that it intended to launch its technology demonstrator aboard this mission in February during our visit to its Long Beach factory. It will test key systems such as propulsion, avionics, and communications, but will not contain any pressurized modules – the company’s demonstrator will now launch later this year.
Atmos Space Cargo’s prototype reentry capsule, Phoenix-1, rode aboard this mission. The capsule will complete two orbits before deploying an innovative inflatable heat shield for atmospheric reentry, decelerating the capsule from orbital speeds to a controlled landing on water without the need for parachutes.
The mission will collect critical data that will be used to refine future iterations of the capsule. While this version of Phoenix is capable of transporting up to 100 kg, future versions will be able to carry several tonnes, including rocket stages, according to the company. This inaugural mission will carry four biological and technological demonstrations for three clients. As of the end of 2024, Atmos had already secured a commercial contract for seven reentry missions through 2027.
Payloads included two weather monitoring satellites from Tomorrow.io and a twelfth cluster of Earth observation satellites from HawkEye 360. The first Bandwagon mission carried nine payloads to LEO on April 7, 2024. With this latest flight, Bandwagon missions will have launched from each of SpaceX’s three active launch sites on the east and west coasts of the United States. A fourth Bandwagon mission is currently slated for this summer. This was SpaceX’s 245th launch from the pad at SLC-40.
Phoenix-1 reentry capsule diagram. (Credit: Atmos Space Cargo)
Booster B1090 supported this mission on its third flight and returned to the Cape to land on the concrete pad at Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2), just over nine kilometers south of SLC-40. This booster made its debut last December with the 03b mPower 7 & 8 mission, and went on to loft Crew-10 to the International Space Station in March.
China has launched its 15th crewed mission from Site 901 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on Thursday, April 24, at 09:17 UTC. This was the ninth crew transportation flight to the Tiangong space station. The launch coincided with the 55th anniversary of the launch of Dongfanghong-1 – China’s first satellite.
The three taikonauts aboard this flight were selected in February and were announced a day before the flight. Commanding the mission is Chen Dong, who has made his third visit to orbit. He previously flew with the Shenzhou-11 and Shenzhou-14 missions and has spent 214 days in space to date. The Commander is joined by Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie who have taken the journey to space for the first time. The crew will spend six months aboard Tiangong, returning in October.
Shenzhou 20 docked to the Tiangong station around six and a half hours after launch. The three will relieve Commander Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong, and Wang Haoze from their Shenzhou 19 rotation. This crew will return to Earth shortly after an official handover ceremony, having spent six months aboard the station. To date, China has launched 24 taikonauts into orbit, with Jing Haipeng having visited space a record four times.
Chang Zheng 2F/G Y20 is rolled to the pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. (Credit: CCTV)
The Chang Zheng 2F (CZ-2F) is currently China’s only crew-rated rocket. During the week before launch, the Y20 vehicle had been rolled to its launch pad to conduct pre-flight testing, while Tiangong was maneuvered to the proper position for the Shenzhou 20 craft to dock.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-74
SpaceX lofted another batch of 28 satellites into the largest shell of its Starlink constellation. Despite what the numbering may suggest, this was the 75th launch into the group, and the company’s 475th mission.
Falcon 9 launched from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Thursday, April 24, at 9:32 PM EDT (01:32 UTC on April 25), heading southeast over the Atlantic Ocean. Following deployment, this batch of satellites will move into an operational orbit at 559 km, inclined 43 degrees.
The booster supporting this mission was B1069 on its 23rd flight, which landed successfully on the autonomous droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately eight minutes into the mission. This first stage has now carried 19 Starlink missions alongside others, including Hotbird 13F, OneWeb 15, SES-18, and SES-19. The booster has been in active service since December 2021, when it first launched the CRS-24 cargo resupply mission to the ISS.
Chang Zheng 3B/E | Tianlian-2-05
A Chang Zheng 3B/E (CZ-3B/E) took flight from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the Sichuan Province of China on Sunday, April 27, at 15:54. On board was the Tianlian-2-05 data and relay communication satellite. The launch is almost exactly a month after the Tianlan-2-04 was similarly lofted to a geostationary orbit, though it’s been three years since the previous satellite in the series was carried to orbit. The constellation will provide additional bandwidth for satellites in low to mid-Earth orbits as well as the Tiangong space station.
This was the seventh mission of the year for this vehicle type, three of which previously carried classified Tongxin Jishu Shiyan Weixing (TJSW) payloads. Little is known about these communications technology experimental satellites, which the TJSW name roughly translates to. The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology intends to launch more than five further CZ-3B/E missions before the end of the year.
Chang Zheng 3B/E launches the previous TJSW-17 mission on April 10 (Credit: Xinhua)
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 12-23
The third Starlink mission of the week launched on Sunday, April 27, at 10:04 PM EDT (02:04 UTC on April 28). SpaceX launched another batch of 23 Starlink v2-Mini satellites from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, headed southeast. The payload included 13 Direct-to-Cell variants, and the mission was the 250th dedicated launch of Starlink satellites.
The first stage supporting this mission was B1077 on its 20th flight. It successfully landed on the autonomous droneship Just Read The Instructions, which was waiting downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. Active since October 2022, the booster made its debut on the Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station, later supporting two further cargo missions with CRS-28 and NG-20. Aside from a number of Starlink missions, this first stage has also carried the Galaxy 37, Optus-X, Inmarsat I-6 F2, and GPS III SV06 payloads to orbit.
Chang Zheng 5B | SatNet LEO Group 03
A Chang Zheng 5B (CZ-5B) launched from LC-101 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in southern China on Monday, April 28 at 20:10 UTC. This was the first CZ-5B to fly this year and only the sixth overall. The vehicle had been rolled out to the pad on April 23 for pre-flight preparations.
A Chang Zheng 5B is rolled to pad LC-101 at Wenchang (Credit: Xiaoling Weather and Space Time)
This mission lofted another batch of satellites for the Guowang (‘National Network’) internet communication megaconstellation. This Chinese state-owned network, also referred to as SatNet is operated by the China Satellite Network Group, hence the SatNet name. The constellation will eventually grow to 13,000 and is an alternative to the Qianfan, or ‘G60’ megaconstellation which will grow to a similar size and has been launching since last summer.
Guowang satellites are understood to target a higher altitude than Starlink and Kuiper satellites at around 1,100 km, and lower than OneWeb’s constellation which orbits at around 1,200 km. A number of test satellites for the constellation have been launched from various launch sites, dating back to July 2023. These have been carried aboard Chang Zheng 2D and 2C vehicles, as well as a Jielong 3. Two active batches of the satellites have since been launched aboard a Chang Zheng 5B in late December last year, and on the maiden launch of a Chang Zheng 8A from Wenchang in Feburary.
Following these two launches of operational batches, a CZ-2D launched another four test satellites at the start of this month, two by Galaxy Space and two by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. These were suspected to be a batch that were initially contracted to fly aboard a delayed ZhuQue-2E.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 11-9
The second Starlink mission of the week launched from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Monday, April 28, at 3:42 PM PDT (20:42 UTC). The flight carried another batch of Starlink v2-Mini satellites into LEO, taking a southeasterly trajectory during ascent.
Starlink connects more than five million people with high-speed internet across 125 countries and territories. The service added Jordan and Guyana to its service list earlier this month and supported video calling during the recent Fram2 crewed mission.
The booster supporting this mission was B1063 on its 25th mission. It landed successfully on the west coast droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, which was stationed downrange in the Pacific. This first stage made its debut back in November 2020 and has lofted early Starlink V1 satellites in addition to supporting Group 2, 3 and 4 missions for the Starlink constellation. More recently the booster has launched three missions for the National Reconnaissance Office late last year.
Atlas V launches the Project Kuiper KA-01 mission. (Credit: Sawyer Rosenstein for NSF)
Atlas V 551 | Project Kuiper (KA-01)
United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V launched in its most powerful 551 configuration, supported by five solid rocket boosters, on Monday, April 28, at 7:01 PM EDT (23:01 UTC). Liftoff took place from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, during a two-hour launch window. A previous attempt had been postponed in early April due to unfavorable weather conditions.
Onboard was the first batch of 27 operational communication satellites for Amazon’s Kuiper constellation to LEO. Amazon plans to deploy 3,236 satellites into this constellation, providing global broadband internet coverage. The satellites will operate in 98 orbital planes across three layers at altitudes of 590, 610, and 630 km — higher than its rival, Starlink.
The launch also marked the 250th flight of a Centaur upper stage atop an Atlas rocket, and its 275th overall. ULA has contracts for up to 83 Kuiper launches, with seven additional missions to be flown aboard Atlas V 551 rockets. The remaining missions will fly on Atlas V’s successor, Vulcan Centaur. Kuiper satellites are also set to fly on New Glenn and Falcon 9.
(Lead image: Falcon 9 launches to orbit. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF )
