A busy slate of launches was planned for the last full week of September, including flights for two major low-Earth orbit broadband constellations, as well as a NASA science mission that has now flown. China and Rocket Lab were also planning flights, with Electron set to fly two suborbital hypersonic research missions from Wallops Island, Virginia. One has flown and the other was pushed into the following launch week.
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) flew an Atlas V 551 on the KA-03 mission for the Amazon Kuiper constellation, while SpaceX ended up flying three Falcon 9 Starlink missions.
Two of the Starlink flights were to be launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), while two others were to be launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB). One Starlink launch – Group 10-59 from Florida – is now pushed into next week. Two flights launched from VSFB and one from CCSFS.
One Chinese mission launched from an offshore platform in the Yellow Sea with another that launched from Jiuquan. Another Chinese rocket launched from Taiyuan, while a flight from Xichang is now in the books after a successful launch.
Electron launches from Wallops. (Credit: Rocket Lab)
The first of two HASTE hypersonic research missions scheduled to fly this month is codenamed JENNA and flew from Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Launch took place on Monday, Sept. 22, at 8:00 PM EDT (00:00 UTC), with Electron flying on an eastward trajectory over the Atlantic.
Although the Electron is an orbital-class satellite launcher, this flight was suborbital as is typical with HASTE launches. These flights are intended for military hypersonic research payloads, and little is known about them.
The JENNA launch was the 13th Electron launch of 2025 and the first since the “Live, Laugh, Launch” mission from New Zealand on Aug. 23.
Launch of a Jielong-3. (Credit: CNSA)
Chinarocket, the launch provider subsidiary of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, successfully launched a Jielong 3 rocket from the Oriental Spaceport Launch Ship (Area 1) platform in the Yellow Sea off the Chinese coast. The flight took place on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 07:56 UTC.
The Jielong 3 rocket, capable of flying up to 1,600 kg to a 500 km altitude, circular Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), features four solid-fueled stages and uses the same motors as the CAS Space Zhongke-1 (Kinetica-1) rocket.
Jielong 3 flew on a southeast trajectory and carried the Jili (Geely) Constellation 06 satellites A through K. The Geely low-Earth orbit (LEO) communications satellite constellation is designed to offer coverage for the Internet of Things (IoT), which is particularly useful to the company as it is a leading Chinese automaker.
Constellation 06 refers to the sixth orbital plane for Geely’s IoT satellite service. Other Geely satellites have been launched by the Jielong 3, including a launch for the fourth orbital plane last month. The Aug. 9 launch also took place from the launch platform in the Yellow Sea, and the Jielong 3 Y8 launch this week was the fourth launch of 2025 for the rocket.
Artist’s impression of the IMAP spacecraft in orbit. (Credit: NASA/Princeton University/Patrick McPike)
The NASA Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), along with secondary payloads, launched aboard a Falcon 9 on Wednesday, Sept. 24, from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Launch took place at 7:30 AM EDT (11:30 UTC) during an instantaneous launch window.
Falcon booster B1096-2, which started its career with the KF-01 mission for Amazon’s Kuiper constellation, took an eastward trajectory from LC-39A. After stage separation, the booster reentered Earth’s atmosphere and landed safely atop SpaceX’s Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic.
The second stage successfully deployed and placed IMAP, Space Weather Follow-On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1), and the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory on a trajectory toward the gravitationally stable L1 Lagrange point, located between the Earth and the Sun.
Artist’s impression of SWFO-L1 in orbit. (Credit: BAE Systems)
The IMAP spacecraft will study the boundary between the heliosphere and interstellar space, a boundary crossed in the last decade by the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft after their exploration of the outer planets in the 1970s and 1980s.
The 900 kg spacecraft, equipped with 10 instruments, will also study charged particles and solar wind emitted by the Sun. IMAP will be able to provide approximately 30 minutes of warning to spacecraft and astronauts of hazardous solar radiation events.
SWFO-L1, a 377 kg spacecraft operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is the first of two rideshare payloads to fly with IMAP to L1. SWFO-L1 was designed to ensure uninterrupted space weather monitoring from L1, as existing missions such as SOHO, ACE, and DSCOVR have surpassed their spacecraft design life. The spacecraft’s four instruments will keep a constant watch on the Sun and its activity.
Rendering of the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory in space. (Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio – eMITS/Beth Anthony)
Unlike IMAP and SWFO-L1, the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory’s pair of instruments will be turned toward the Earth-Moon system. The 200 kg spacecraft, formerly known as the Global Lyman-alpha Imagers of the Dynamic Exosphere, will use two ultraviolet cameras to observe the Earth’s exosphere and investigate how it responds to solar storms.
This launch was the 121st Falcon 9 launch of 2025, as SpaceX continues to work toward surpassing 2024’s record of 132 Falcon 9 flights.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-15
SpaceX’s first Starlink mission of the week took place on Thursday, Sept. 25, at 4:39 AM EDT (08:39 UTC) from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at the CCSFS in Florida. The four-hour launch window closed at 8:36 AM EDT (12:36 UTC).
B1080-22 flew on a northeast trajectory to send 28 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to LEO, with the veteran booster safely landing on A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic after its ascent. B1080 started its career with the crewed Axiom-2 mission in May 2023 and has also flown the Euclid, Axiom-3, CRS-30, Astra 1P/SES-24, CRS NG-21, and 15 Starlink missions.
As of Sept. 19, 2025, a total of 9,760 satellites have been launched into the Starlink constellation over the last seven years, with 7,430 now in their operational orbits. This flight was the 122nd Falcon 9 launch of 2025.
Atlas V launches with the KA-01 mission for Project Kuiper. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched its third Atlas V flight of the year for Thursday, Sept. 25, at 8:09 AM EDT (12:09 UTC) from Space Launch Complex-41 (SLC-41) at CCSFS. The short launch window extended until 8:38 AM EDT (12:38 UTC).
This Atlas V launch, the second of the day from CCSFS, flew 27 Amazon Kuiper broadband satellites to LEO. The Atlas V used for this flight — and all other non-Starliner Atlas launches until the vehicle’s retirement — is the 551 configuration with five solid rocket boosters, a five-meter fairing, and one RL-10 engine on the Centaur upper stage. The 551 is the most powerful variant of the Atlas V.
Amazon is racing to launch as many Kuiper satellites as possible before a July 2026 deadline, aiming to have at least half of its constellation, comprising 3,236 total satellites, in orbit. Kuiper is designed to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink in providing broadband access to the entire world, including areas with no or limited connectivity.
The KA-03 mission will be followed by 12 more Atlas V missions using the 551 or N22 configurations. ULA is moving toward exclusively flying the Vulcan rocket as the successor to its Delta and Atlas rocket families.
Starlink satellites are released during the Starlink Group 15-5 mission. (Credit: SpaceX)
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-11
The second Starlink flight of the week was also scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 25. Unlike Starlink Group 10-15, Starlink Group 17-11 launched from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at VSFB in California, with a T0 at 9:26 PM PDT (04:26 UTC Friday, Sept. 26). The four-hour launch window lasted until 10:57 PM PDT (05:57 UTC Friday, Sept. 26).
Booster B1082-16 took a southerly trajectory and landed safely atop SpaceX’s west coast droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, in the Pacific. The second stage carried 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to LEO.
B1082 started its career with Starlink 7-9, and also flew 11 other Starlink missions before this flight. The booster also handled the USSF-62, OneWeb #20, and NROL-145 flights. B1063-28 had been originally set to fly this mission, but was moved to Starlink 11-20.
This launch was the 123rd Falcon 9 flight of 2025.
A Chang Zheng 4C launching from Jiuquan. (Credit: China Daily News)
China launched a Chang Zheng 4C (CZ-4C) on Friday, Sept. 26, at 19:28 UTC from Site 9401 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Inner Mongolia. The rocket took a southward trajectory and successfully launched its payload into orbit.
The flight’s trajectory hinted at a polar orbit, possibly an SSO, which allows for a spacecraft to pass a given point on Earth at the same local time every day. Many Earth observation, science, weather, and surveillance satellites typically use these orbits. The payload was a Fengyun-3H polar orbit meteorological satellite.
The CZ-4C rocket is based on ICBM technology, notably using storable but highly toxic hypergolic fuels. This flight was the third CZ-4C flight of 2025.
Chang Zheng 6A | SatNet LEO Group 11
A Chang Zheng 6A (CZ-6A) rocket successfully launched on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 12:40 UTC from the LC-9A pad at Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north-central China. The rocket launched on a southward trajectory typically associated with sun-synchronous and polar-orbiting satellites.
Taiyuan is China’s equivalent of VSFB and reconnaissance satellites are launched from there, but the payload for this flight was a batch of broadband communications satellites for the “Chinese Starlink”.
The CZ-6A is a two-stage rocket with four strap-on solid rocket boosters. The two liquid-fueled stages use kerosene and liquid oxygen as propellants, and the roughly 50 m tall vehicle is capable of flying up to 6,500 kg to a 500 km circular sun-synchronous orbit. This was the ninth CZ-6 series launch of 2025.
Starlink satellites are released during Starlink Group 15-5, which also launched from SLC-4E on May 16. (Credit: SpaceX)
The third Starlink launch of this week successfully occurred Sunday, Sept. 28, from SLC-4E at VSFB. Launch took place at 7:04 PM PDT (02:04 UTC) within a four-hour window that ended at 8:32 PM PDT (03:32 UTC on Monday, Sept. 29).
The booster, B1063-28, flew on a southeast trajectory before successfully landing on Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific. The second stage took a batch of 28 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into orbit.
B1063’s career started with the Sentinel 6A-Michael Freilich mission, with the booster also flying the DART, Transporter 7, Iridium-9/OneWeb #19, Tranche 0B, NROL-113, NROL-167, NROL-149, NAOS, and 18 Starlink missions before Starlink Group 17-11. This launch served as the 124th Falcon 9 launch of 2025.
CZ-2D liftoff from Xichang. (Credit: CASC)
Chang Zheng 2D | Shiyan 30 01-02
While a Starlink launch moved to next week, China added another flight to this week’s calendar. A Chang Zheng 2D (CZ-2D) launched successfully on Monday, Sept. 29 at 0300 UTC from LC-3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China.
The flight took an eastward trajectory and the payload was a pair of “technological testing and validation” Earth observation satellites. The CZ-2D, a vehicle based on ICBM technology with storable but highly toxic hypergolic propellants, is capable of launching up to 3,500 kg to low-Earth orbit.
This flight was the sixth CZ-2D flight of 2025 and the 100th all time.
The second HASTE hypersonic research flight, using a modified version of Rocket Lab’s Electron, was scheduled for Monday, Sept. 29, at 5:45 PM EDT (21:45 UTC) from LC-2 at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia but has now been pushed back to the same time on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
This flight will employ an eastward suborbital trajectory, with the payload presumably concluding its flight over the Atlantic. Little is known about the payloads used by HASTE flights, but the U.S. Armed Forces is intensively researching and developing hypersonic aircraft and missiles for future combat situations.
This flight takes the place of the previously scheduled JAKE 4. JAKE 4 was initially scheduled to fly on July 11, but was delayed multiple times over the last two months. The JUSTIN flight will be the 14th Electron launch of 2025, as Rocket Lab not only works to increase Electron’s launch cadence but also attempts to finish preparations for the first flight of its upcoming partially reusable medium-lift Neutron rocket.
(Lead image: Falcon 9 launches from Florida. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)
