A brand new week of spaceflight is approaching with SpaceX preparing to launch three Starlink missions, China getting ready to send two payloads to orbit, including one on the powerful Chang Zheng 5 (CZ-5) rocket, and Roscosmos preparing to launch Russian-built satellites to orbit atop Soyuz.
Late on Feb. 22, Starlink Group 7-15 took 22 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to low-Earth orbit (LEO), followed by China launching its CZ-5 rocket to a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) on Feb. 23. SpaceX then launched its second Falcon 9 of the week on Feb. 25, with Starlink Group 6-39 lofting 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to LEO. Then, after a short break, Roscosmos launched a Soyuz 2.1b rocket, taking two payloads to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). About six hours after the launch of Soyuz, Chang Zheng 3B/E (CZ-3B/E) launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China.