Launch Roundup: SpaceX to launch lunar lander on Falcon 9’s 300th mission; JAXA looks to reach orbit with H3 rocket … – NASASpaceflight.com

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On the week of the sixth anniversary of the first flight of Falcon Heavy, SpaceX looks to launch four separate Falcon 9 missions. Meanwhile, JAXA is preparing for the second flight of the H3 rocket after its unsuccessful maiden launch in 2023, while Roscosmos will resupply the International Space Station (ISS) with Progress MS-26 launching on Soyuz.

On Tuesday evening, this weeks first batch of Starlink satellites was supposed to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California but that was scrubbed due to bad weather. Early Thursday morning, another Falcon 9 launched from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) taking NASAs Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Earth-observing satellite to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Later in the week, SpaceX will launch again from SLC-40 taking another group of Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit.

Closing out this extended week, there will be a triple header of launches coming from three different countries. The first will be SpaceXs launch of the IM-1 Nova-C lunar lander out of LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Then, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch three payloads out of the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on what aims to be the first successful launch of the H3 rocket. Finally, a Soyuz 2.1a will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan taking supplies up to the ISS.

SpaceX Falcon 9 | PACE

On Thursday, Feb. 8 at 1:33 AM EST (06:33 UTC), SpaceX launched NASAs PACE Earth-observation satellite on a Falcon 9 out of SLC-40 from CCSFS.

PACE is a long-term Earth-observation satellite that will show constant models of global ocean color, cloud, and aerosol data. This satellite has many different uses all in one package and will benefit humanitys understanding of the Earth by watching for changes and inconsistencies to predict environmental phenomena such as weather, visibility, and air quality.

The booster launching this mission was B1081-4, which propulsively returned to Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) shortly after launch. The second stage inserted PACE into a 676.5-kilometer Sun-synchronous polar orbit inclined 98 degrees.

SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 7-13

Following multiple delays due to unfavorable recovery and cloud conditions, SpaceX is now targeting Feb. 9 at 9:01 PM PST (Feb. 10 at 05:01 UTC) for the launch of Starlink Group 7-13 from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. SpaceX has targeted Feb. 6 and Feb. 8 for this launch although both attempts were scrubbed due to excessive weather conditions.

An expected 22 v2 Mini satellites will be lofted to a 53-degree inclination orbit on a southeastern trajectory. The booster B1071 will have launched 14 times and plans to land on the autonomous droneship Of Course I Still Love You downrange in the Pacific Ocean.

View of a stack of 21 Starlink v2 Mini satellites before being enclosed in their fairing. (Credit: SpaceX)

The specific booster set to launch the mission is not yet known. Group 7-13 is set to be the 11th SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of the year, and the 25th orbital launch attempt for the year overall.

SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-39

SpaceX will be launching another stack of Starlink satellites on Feb. 10 at 1:00 AM EST (06:00 UTC) from SLC-40 out of CCSFS in Florida. Starlink Group 6-39 will have a payload of 23 Starlink v2 Mini satellites. These satellites will be heading to an initial low-Earth orbit of 284 by 293 kilometers with a southeastern trajectory inclined 43 degrees. The 23 satellites will be added to the thousands of active Starlink satellites in orbit giving internet to people all over the world.

The booster for this mission is unknown at this time, but it is believed that it will land on one of the two autonomous droneships stationed on the East Coast. This will be the 27th total orbital launch of 2024 with nearly half being Falcon 9 launches.

SpaceX Falcon 9 | Nova-C (IM-1)

Falcon 9s 300th flight and the next mission to the Moon is launching on Feb. 14 at 12:57 AM EST (05:57 UTC). Falcon 9 is set to take Intuitive Machines first Nova-C lunar lander to a trans-lunar injection. Lifting off from historic LC-39A at KSC in Florida, Falcon 9 will launch with an unknown booster and then return to LZ-1 while the second stage does the heavy lifting, taking Nova-C out to the Moon.

The IM-1 Nova-C lander during final assembly. (Credit: Intuitive Machines)

Nova-C is the next lunar lander in NASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. CLPS was created to give private companies the resources to build commercial lunar landers to send NASA payloads to the Moon before the crewed Artemis III landing. It will carry five NASA payloads and four private or university payloads with plans to study plume-surface interactions, radio astronomy, and space weather interactions on the lunar surface. The lander will touch down in Malapert A, a crater near the south pole of the Moon.

SpaceX has upgraded LC-39As strongback with new propellant connections to load Nova-C with liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellants while vertical on the launch pad. Recently, SpaceX has performed tests on the new system at the pad before the integrated vehicle is brought out for a wet dress rehearsal in the coming days.

It appears that SpaceX may be testing the TE at 39A with the new connections that should allow @Int_Machines's Nova-C lander to be loaded with propellants while on the pad. The lander uses cryogenic oxygen and methane fluids for its propulsion system.https://t.co/bWDuxt1M5U pic.twitter.com/ELmTDpjPiZ

Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera (Alex) (@Alexphysics13) January 21, 2024

The landing of Nova-C is planned for Feb. 22 with the operation time on the lunar surface being nearly 14 Earth days. Intuitive Machines is following closely after Astrobotics Peregrine Mission One another CLPS lander which failed to land on the Moon last month after a propulsion system malfunction.

If everything goes well with this flight, Intuitive Machines has a second lunar lander lined up to launch in the second quarter of this year to send more NASA, university, and commercial payloads to the lunar surface.

JAXA/MHI H3-22 | VEP 4, CE-SAT-1E & TIRSAT

The second flight of the JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H3-22 rocket is set for Feb. 15 at 9:22 AM JST (00:22 UTC) from LA-Y2 out of the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. H3 is classified as a medium-lift launch vehicle and uses cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in its first and second stages. The core rocket can then optionally be augmented by two or four solid rocket boosters.

This mission will use two boosters along with a short payload fairing, taking three payloads into a Sun-synchronous orbit.

The first flight of H3 experienced a failure of the second engine ignitor causing the test payload to fall short of orbit. While flight two was originally planned to launch the ALOS-4 Earth observation satellite, the vehicle failure caused JAXA to choose to fly the Vehicle Evaluation Payload-4 (VEP-4) mass simulator, although there are also two small satellites onboard for this flight.

CE-SAT-1E is a 70-kilogram Earth observation satellite built by Canon Electronics Inc., and TIRSAT is a five-kilogram 3U CubeSat from Japan Space Systems to test infrared sensors for Earth observation. While there is an inherent risk to flying an unproven rocket, the customers are confident in the new vehicles ability to take their payloads to orbit.

Roscosmos Soyuz 2.1a | Progress MS-26

The next resupply mission to the ISS is launching on a Soyuz 2.1a to low-Earth orbit on Feb. 15 at 9:25 AM AQTT (03:25 UTC) from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This mission will take Progress MS-26 to the ISS, carrying food, water, oxygen, fuel, and more to keep the Station and its astronauts healthy.

This will be Soyuz 2.1as 74th overall mission but the first of 2024. Progress MS-26s docking time is unknown, as is the date of its departure from the Station. This will be the 179th Progress mission since the first flight back in 1978.

(Lead image: Intuitive Machines IM-1 Nova-C lander before encapsulation in Falcon 9s payload fairing. Credit: SpaceX)

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Launch Roundup: SpaceX to launch lunar lander on Falcon 9's 300th mission; JAXA looks to reach orbit with H3 rocket ... - NASASpaceflight.com