Weekly Rocket Report
11/18/2024-11/25/2024
Ricky Whitmore
Space Writer
Hello and welcome back everyone, to another installment of the Weekly Rocket Report. (A day late, apologies) We had a very busy week so let’s get right into the action.
Our first action takes us to the west coast of the USA, where a Falcon 9 launched Starlink Group 9-12. The first stage successfully landed on the “Of Course I Still Love You” drone ship, and the second stage successfully deployed its 20 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.
Swapping coasts for the afternoon we had another Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral. The rocket was carrying GSAT-20, a communication satellite contracted to Falcon by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The payload was deployed successfully, and the booster landed down range on its drone ship (Just Read the Instructions).
Then came Tuesday, a day many space fans had been looking forward to. The 6th flight of SpaceX’s Starship. The vehicle lifted off from Starbase at 5PM (EST) and roared towards the sky. The booster catch unfortunately had to be aborted and Super Heavy splashed down softly in the Gulf. As for Starship itself, it splashed down successfully in the Indian Ocean after an on-orbit re-light of a raptor engine, and an aggressive re-entry campaign. More on Starship flight 6 here: https://www.theweeklyspaceman.com/articles/starship-flight-6-review
Starship blasts into space on Flight 6. Photo Credit: SpaceX.
Thursday morning saw the launch of Progress MS-29. A Russian Soyuz 2.1a sent the capsule, full of supplies, towards the ISS where it docked shortly after.
Soyuz 2.1a launches Progress MS-29 to the ISS. Photo Credit: NASA.
Now back to Falcon. Thursday morning also saw a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral, carrying 24 Starlink satellites to orbit. The mission, Starlink Group 6-66, was successful, with its payload being deployed, and its first stage landing back on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas”.
Falcon 9 launches Starlink Group 6-66. Photo Credit: SpaceX.
Moving on to Friday we got to see a launch from Blue Origin. A New Shepard rocket lifted off from the West Texas desert carrying 6 people past the Karman line and into space. The New Shepard booster landed successfully near the launch pad, and a few minutes later the crew capsule softly touched down in the desert marking another successful crewed flight for Blue Origin and New Shepard.
New Shepard prepares to launch NS-28. Photo Credit: Blue Origin.
Now for Sunday, Sunday was a very busy day around the globe for launches. We start off just after midnight with a Falcon 9 taking off from the Florida coast. Falcon carried 20 satellites, as part of Starlink Group 9-13 to orbit. The booster successfully returned to Earth and landed on the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You”.
Just over a half an hour later an Electron blasted off from Wallops Island launch area in Virginia. The suborbital mission, dubbed HIPPO (MACH-TB) was a test of commercial hypersonic systems, though little else is known, and updates/information prior to and after the launch have been sparse at best.
The next two launches took place on the other side of the Pacific, beginning in China. A Long March 2C blasted off taking SuperView Neo 2-4 to orbit. The payload consisted of 2 commercial radar satellites for Earth observation.
Finally, we had another launch from Rocket Lab, this time out of New Zealand. This mission, launched on Electron-Curie, and called Ice AIS Baby, consisted of 5 satellites for the company Kineis. This is the 3rd of 5 launches of the French communication satellites. Of note, this launch, and the launch from Wallops marks the first time that 2 Electrons have been launched within 24 hours of each other, a big accomplishment for Rocket Lab.
Electron launches Ice AIS Baby. Photo Credit: @rorygannaway.
That wraps up this week’s launches everyone, an exciting week with lots of launches, and a healthy variety of launch vehicles. A very Happy Thanksgiving to anyone who celebrates, and I will see you all back next week for the next Weekly Rocket Report.
As always feel free to write to me at rickyew2112@gmail.com, or find me on X @Rickyew2112
Sic Itur Ad Astra
(Thus They Journey to the Stars)